Military

AFRCC takes lead in shuttle search, recovery

02/05/03 - LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. (AFPN) -- Fifteen minutes after NASA's Mission Control in Houston lost contact with Space Shuttle Columbia, the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center here was dispatched to begin search and rescue efforts.

The center is responsible for coordinating federal support to inland search and rescue in the continental United States, explained Lt. Col. Scott Morgan, AFRCC commander.

Manned 24 hours, year round, the center's primary mission is to coordinate efforts to locate and rescue missing civilian and military aircraft or people. The staff also assists states in searching for missing people. They accomplish these missions using an extensive and complex series of computer, satellite, telephone and other information systems that tie in with federal and state agencies throughout the United States.

The Department of Defense's manned space flight support office contacted AFRCC officials, and the two agencies began initiating checklists and operations plans for the emergency.

"When we got the call, we already had two controllers and a shift supervisor on duty," Morgan said. "They immediately contacted the acting operations officer and me. We came in right away. Seeing the magnitude of this, we called in two additional controllers, so we were able to have five controllers concentrating specifically on the shuttle mission."

The first thing they had to do was establish a search zone. Multiple reports were coming in from NASA and people on the ground about debris spreading from Dallas to the Florida panhandle. At the same time, people from the 84th Radar Evaluation Squadron at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, worked to provide the center with a radar picture of the debris field.

With the zone narrowed, AFRCC officials began coordination efforts to dispatch search and recovery assets within the area, Morgan said.

Those included F-16 Fighting Falcons from Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base at Fort Worth, Texas; UH-60 helicopters from Fort Hood, Texas; UH-1 helicopters from Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas; C-130 Hercules from Fort Worth Air National Guard Base, Texas; C-130s and helicopters from the Coast Guard; and Civil Air Patrol aircraft and people from Texas, Louisiana and Florida.

Throughout the mission, AFRCC officials maintained constant communication with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, DDMS, NASA and state agencies, said Morgan.

"We were able to establish a direct communication line with NASA and other state agencies," Morgan said. "The Coast Guard issued maritime alerts in the area. Controllers gathered a detailed list of hazardous materials from NASA and passed information on to state emergency management agencies in Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and (the) Department of the Interior."

Search and recovery efforts continued until approximately 1 p.m. By that time, officials determined that all seven Columbia astronauts died and a presidential disaster declaration was issued.

Morgan said AFRCC continued to work with FEMA, NASA, DDMS and all state and local agencies to ensure a "smooth handoff" of all recovery activities.

"As soon as the mission changed from search and rescue to recovery, we stepped back, but we still had to support the effort by transferring all the information we had," Morgan said. "We made sure U.S Northern Command knew what aircraft we still had out there flying. The key was to keep everyone informed of the unfolding events."