Military Plane Crashes Into Gulf Of Mexico

[TxEMTP69]

http://www.kristv.com/Global/story.a...&nav=menu192_2


MATAGORDA ISLAND - The Navy and Coast Guard are looking for the crew of Navy T-34 Training Aircraft Wednesday night.
The FAA control tower lost radar contact with the T-34 Trainer around 3:20 p.m. Its position was 12 miles due east of Rockport, over the Gulf of Mexico. At 4 p.m., the Coast Guard was advised that there was a missing plane in the Gulf.
The search area is along the coast of Matagorda Island, which runs from Rockport to the opening of the Matagorda Bay at Port O'Connor.
Authorities believe wind and currents could be pushing the wreckage, if any, in that direction.
"It has a very heavy nose and not much floatation, so it will go down very quickly in most seas," Jerry Richardson, who trains pilots at the Municipal Airport in Rockport, said.
In addition, Richardson has been flying helicopters and planes for years.
Richardson said, "We had a bird coming back across the bay and the Coast Guard was searching and it ended up being in the same frequency as the Coast Guard, so they asked us to assist them and we said certainly."
So, he sent out one of his pilots that was already en route.
"We just kind of flew out there and went from one platform to another and kind of did zig zags back in. A couple of Navy jets out there and looking around not for an aircraft unfortunately, but bits and pieces floating around in the water," Pilot Camron Leuschel said.
Leuschel didn't find anything, but knows he talked to the T-34 pilot many times during the day.
At the municipal airport the T-34 Aircraft frequents the runway daily and the pilots there talk with the Navy personnel on a regular basis, whether it be on the ground or in the air.
"I don't know who it was today, if he was even at this airport, but I know we talked to him frequently throughout the day," Leuschel said.
The two men in the aircraft haven't been found yet and the search will still go on.
"It's hard to live with that. I know it's going to suck that it's the reality of the business and industry, so it's hard," Leuschel said

[Shorts]

We're still waiting for news. As far as we know all our friends are past instructor tour at NASCC. At any rate, a T34 with 2 occupants is a primary student and an instructor. Sad news.

[TxEMTP69]

Definately, will be praying for the families.

[TxEMTP69]

http://www.kristv.com/global/story.asp?s=11415195

Missing Pilot Instructors Identified

Updated: Oct 30, 2009 12:58 PM CDT
Lt. John Joseph Houston
Lt. Bret Travis Miller


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CORPUS CHRISTI - Officials at Naval Air Station-Corpus Christi have just identified the two instructor pilots lost in the Gulf since Wednesday Afternoon. They have been identified as Lt. Bret Travis Miller, 40 from East Troy, Wisconsin and Lt. John Joseph Houston, 29 from Houston. Both are instructor pilots from with Training Squad 28. They were doing a routing training mission when they're jet disappeared.
The Coast Guard is searching an area from Port Aransas to Port O'Connor. We'll have the latest on Six News at Five and Six

[Shorts]

Both instructors, hmm...the LTs was the tip before reading the article. They are well qualified. Gosh. Poor guys, VT28. (DH was a Boomer in 27).

RIP LT Miller and LT Houston




Thanks for the update TxEMT69


And and aside because its ingrained, the T34 is not a 'jet', news people. It's a turbo prop.

[TxEMTP69]

http://www.caller.com/news/2009/oct/...ts-body-found/

CORPUS CHRISTI — Coast Guard officials confirmed late Friday they found the body of one of the Navy pilots missing since Wednesday.
Coast Guard crews found the body 11 miles northeast of Port Aransas after receiving a call from a floating rig about 4:40 p.m. reporting something in the water, said Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Nick Leiter.
The other pilot has not been found and no debris from the plane has been located, Leiter said.
Navy officials identified the pilots Friday as Lt. John Joseph Houston and Lt. Bret Travis Miller.
Coast Guard officials did not identify the name of the deceased.
Both instructors have combat support experience and were graduates of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. Houston’s hometown is listed as Houston, and Miller’s hometown is listed as East Troy, Wis.
Officials planned to continue searching through the night with boats and resume the aerial search at sunrise. They continued to search an area from Port Aransas to Port O’Connor, Leiter said, but have concentrated search efforts in the area where the body was found.
There had been no communication from the pilots since they lost communication with the base tower Wednesday afternoon.
Crews from the Navy, Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection searched land and water from Port Aransas to Port O’Connor, from 30 miles offshore to 25 miles inland.
About 3,900 square miles have been searched, starting with the last known coordinates of the T-34C Turbomentor, a training aircraft, and its crew, said Capt. Robert Paulison, the Coast Guard’s Corpus Christi sector commander.
Houston and Miller left the base Wednesday on a routine two-hour training mission and lost communication with the base tower at 3:17 p.m. There was no indication before losing communication that the men were having trouble, said Capt. David Price, commodore of Training Air Wing 4.
Having two instructors on this sort of exercise is the typical training profile, he said.
Officials declined to give the plane’s departure time. Lt. Brett Dawson, a spokesman for the Chief of Naval Air Training, said the pilots’ flight plan was under investigation.
Lt. John Joseph Houston
Age: 29
Hometown: Houston
Education: U.S. Naval Academy, 2002
Awards/Decorations: Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Sea Service Deployment Medal
Lt. Bret Travis Miller
Age: 30
Hometown: East Troy, Wis.
Education: U.S. Naval Academy, 2001
Awards/Decorations: Kosovo Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Armed Forces Service Medal, NATO Medal, Pistol Marksmanship Medal

[TxEMTP69]

http://www.kristv.com/news/volunteer...ng-navy-pilot/

CORPUS CHRISTI - The Coast Guard suspended its search for Lt. John Houston on Sunday, but his family, friends and volunteers are still out looking for him.

Houston disappeared a week ago today during a routine training flight. The body of his crewmate, Lt. Bret Miller, was recovered Friday, but friends and family of Houston haven't given up hope of finding him alive. Over 20 people from the Marines and just regular citizens met at Port Aransas from all over the country to take a boat to San Jose Island back there.

They believe Houston is still alive and could be there.

"I don't know Joe, I've never met him. All I know is that he's a military pilot and we're all pilots here, we look out for one another," search volunteer Matt Cave said.

"We're doing it to help the friend and loved one find him and I think this will augment the Navy search," volunteer Jill Melin said. "We want to break up into teams of six, with a team lead for each team."

They were broken up into three teams to eventually cover over 20 miles of land on San Jose Island.

"I just want to make sure we stay together and keep accountability of them and make sure they get back at the end of the day and don't leave anyone else out there searching for Joe," team leader Jake Frederich said.

The search teams are making sure they're equipped with a lot of water and bug spray since they'll be searching all day and there's so much land to cover. It might take all week or longer but those people are here to stay.

"We're excited to be here, we want to take him back to his family, that's all that really matters," volunteer Tory Steinhauser said.

[txinvestigator]

Originally Posted by Shorts

And and aside because its ingrained, the T34 is not a 'jet', news people. It's a turbo prop.

Yeah, read this from the article;

when they're jet disappeared.

Really? "When they are jet disappeared"? Really?

[txinvestigator]

I have a Brother in Law in the CG stationed in Corpus. He is on the search teams and that is all I will report until the Navy releases more.

From the condition the body of the recovered pilot was in I am inclined to believe the other did not survive.

[TxEMTP69]

Everyone keeps saying they believe he is alive. I think they are filling families with falsoe hopes. I always say hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

I don't know any of the families or friends or rescuers searching, I only have (unfortunately) the news to go by.