NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                               MORNING REPORT

To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Tuesday, May 11, 1999

INCIDENTS

99-166 - Great Smoky Mountains NP (TN/NC) - Follow-up: Downed Aircraft

A search began on Thursday, May 6th, for a missing single-engine airplane
that crashed south of the Appalachian Trail.  Ground searchers from Lake
District located the crash site around 10 a.m. on Saturday morning and
radioed that the pilot, F.T., 49, had not survived.  Weather
conditions continued to deteriorate, so a decision was made to transport
F.T.'s body down Jenkins Ridge trail to Fontana Lake, load it onto an NPS
vessel for a short boat trip, then transport it by ambulance to University of
Tennessee Hospital.  FAA and NTSB investigators were expected to arrive in
the park yesterday. [Jason Houck, CR, GRSM, 5/10]

99-168 - Mount Rainier NP (WA) - Search

The search for an overdue climbing party on Liberty Ridge ended happily on
Friday, May 7th, when the party was seen from the air moving toward Camp
Muir.  Two parties of two climbers - R.R. and A.M. from the
Seattle area and B.S. and S.H. of Lander, Wyoming - left
Ipsut campground on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 27th and 28th, to climb
Liberty Ridge.  A.M. called his father by cell phone on Saturday, May 1st,
and reported that the two parties had teamed up and were waiting out bad
weather in a snow cave in the bergschrund at 13,000 feet on the ridge. They
estimated the group had four days of food and fuel.  On Monday, May 3rd,
A.M. again called his father to say they had food and fuel through
Wednesday.  During the conversation. the cell phone battery died and there
was no further phone contact.  On Wednesday, rangers and Army Reserve
soldiers conducting a training flight with Chinook helicopters observed the
party of four at about 13,000 feet on Liberty Ridge.  They were moving up the
route and did not appear to be in distress.  A supply of water, food, and
fuel was left on top of Liberty Ridge where the party could find it.  The
weather deteriorated again that night.  Because no word had been received
from the party by Friday morning, search teams comprised of rangers and
Mountain Rescue Council volunteers began looking for the men to determine
their condition.  While a ground team headed for Camp Muir in high winds,
snow and low visibility, a Chinook twice attempted to transport a team of
rangers and MRC members to the mountain but had to turn back due to bad
weather.  A small commercial helicopter with rangers on board was able to
search the lower elevations on the north side of the mountain, but was also
eventually grounded by bad weather.  A second attempt in mid-afternoon proved
successful.  The party of four was spotted at about 10,800 feet, descending
toward Camp Muir.  The men looked tired, but gave a thumbs up.  About an hour
later, a member of the group radioed from Camp Muir and reported that they
were OK.  They continued their descent and met the ground team.  Both teams
returned to Paradise through wind, snow, and fog, arriving about 9:45 p.m. 
The climbing party had spent five nights in the snow cave at the bergschrund
at 13,000 feet on Liberty Ridge and two nights in a tent set up in a crevasse
at 12,000 feet on Disappointment Cleaver during the descent.  Media interest
was high.  Ranger Steve Winslow was IC.  [Randy Brooks/Sheri Forbes, Incident
PIOs, MORA, 5/9]

FIRE ACTIVITY

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II

LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY 

                                                      Sat     Mon    %   Est
State      Unit              Fire/Incident   IMT      5/8     5/10  Con  Con

GA   Okefenokee NWR          Hickory Island   --   14,128   14,128  100  CND

MI   State                   Troll            --      875      875   95  5/10

NM   Cibola NF               Roberts          --      175      175  100  CND

                                  Heading Notes

Unit        Agency = BIA area; NF = national forest; RU = CA state resource
            or ranger unit; RD = state ranger district; District = BLM
            district; NWR = USFWS wildlife refuge
Fire        * = newly reported fire (on this report); Cx = complex; LSS =
            limited suppression strategy; CSS = containment suppression
            strategy
IMT         T1 = Type 1; T2 = Type II; ST = State Team
% Con       Percent of fire contained
Est Con     Estimated containment date; NEC = no estimated date of
            containment; CND = fully contained; NR = no report; LPS = limited
            protection status

NUMBER OF NEW FIRES (FOUR DAY TREND)

                    NPS    BIA      BLM     FWS    States   USFS     Total

Thursday, 5/6        1      1         0       0       66     12        80
Friday, 5/7          0      0         0       0       21      2        23
Saturday, 5/8        0      1         0       0       31      5        37
Sunday, 5/9          4      0         0       1       55     14        74

TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FOUR DAY TREND) 

                  Crews     Engines    Helicopters    Airtankers   Overhead

Thursday, 5/6       43         60          17             6           385
Friday, 5/7         43         53          14             3           388
Saturday, 5/8       25         56          12             2           392
Sunday, 5/9         13         34          12             0           214

CURRENT SITUATION

Moderate fire activity was reported in the south on Sunday; there were few
fires elsewhere.

Very high and extreme fire indices were reported in Quebec, New Mexico, and
Texas.  [NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 5/10]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION

No entries.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

NPS Web Site Down - Yesterday morning, the webmaster for ParkNet
(www.nps.gov) discovered that the site had been hacked into from China.  The
main homepage had been replaced with one that deplored the bombing of the
Chinese embassy.  The site was taken off line, and is not open to either the
public or NPS staff.  No access will be permitted for park updates until
further notice.  [Steve Pittleman, WASO]

MEMORANDA

No entries.

INTERCHANGE

No entries.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

No entries.

                                *  *  *  *  *

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Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the cooperation and
support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.

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