NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Thursday, September 30, 2010

INCIDENTS

Katmai NP

Missing Plane Found In Park

Debris from the plane carrying three National Park Service employees in Katmai National Park was located on the park's rugged northern coast on Tuesday evening. Superintendent Ralph Moore said he was notified by a local helicopter pilot, Sam Egli, that portions of the aircraft, including a piece of the tail with identifying numbers, were on a narrow section of beach about 10 miles northwest of Sukoi Bay. The single engine floatplane, a deHavilland Beaver operated by Branch River Air Service in King Salmon, carried the pilot and three National Park Service maintenance employees and had been missing since August 21st. A U.S. Coast Guard crew from Kodiak, Alaska, went to the site on Wednesday morning to look for further debris associated with the accident. A NPS crew was unable to reach to coast because of bad weather in the headquarters town of King Salmon, about 120 miles to the southwest of the debris site. The employees who were on board the aircraft were Mason McLeod, 26, and two brothers, Neal Spradlin, 28; and Seth Spradlin, 20. The pilot was Marco Alletto, 47, from King Salmon. Egli told the park there was no indication of survivors. The discovery of the plane comes after more than a month of aerial and ground searching by NPS, military and civilian personnel. More than 60,000 miles of flying was done, at times with more than a dozen aircraft working search patterns over the 4 million acre park. “This is a sad conclusion to an extremely difficult incident,” said Deputy Regional Director Vic Knox. “Perhaps knowing this adds some measure of comfort for the three families, but nothing can minimize their loss. Our thoughts are with them, and with the staff of Katmai. They, too, are grieving from the loss of close friends and co-workers.” The search area covered some 14,000 square miles, with the most intense work covering the area where the debris was located. The beach had been flown over by the National Park Service as recently as Monday, and rangers had walked the beach just a few miles west of the debris site. High tides and high east winds on Monday and Tuesday are thought to have helped make the debris visible from the air. [John Quinley, Public Affairs Officer]

Joshua Tree NP

Major Search For Missing Hiker Continues

The ongoing search for Culver City resident E.R. entered its third full day on Wednesday. The focus shifted yesterday as search teams found clear indications of E.R.'s presence in a location south of the original search area. Tracking teams found tracks they believe are those of E.R. and followed them off-trail into a rugged region of the Little San Bernardino Mountains. Wednesdays' search effort focused on following these tracks. As of 5 p.m., however, E.R. had not yet been located. A San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office helicopter and ground search teams combed a region several miles south of the original search area, finding additional tracks but not the missing hiker. For the first time, ground teams were directed to search from the park's south boundary north into the search area. Participating in yesterday's operations were newly arrived teams from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office, Sierra Madre Search & Rescue, Riverside County Sheriff's Office Search & Rescue, and search personnel from the Orange County Sheriff's Office. Search teams and support staff from Joshua Tree National Park, Joshua Tree Search and Rescue, and the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office continued their ongoing assistance with the E.R. incident. A total of 40 personnel tasked to the search included ground teams, trackers, search dogs, and equestrian searchers in addition to a helicopter crew. Incident commanders are planning a full day of search activity for tomorrow concentrating on the area where E.R.'s tracks appear to be leading. The search area is now focused on an area of deeply cut canyons, ravines, and rocky ridges between Black Rock Canyon and Desert Hot Springs. [Joe Zarki, Public Affairs Officer]

New River Gorge NR

Two Drown In Separate Rafting Accidents On Gauley River

The Gauley River National Recreation Area and the community of Summersville are hosts to American Whitewater's largest festival of the year - the Gauley Fest. Originally started 1983 to celebrate the derailment of a hydro-electric project that would have dewatered the upper river, Gauley Fest today is one of the largest whitewater festivals in the world and attracts tens of thousands of people. Canyon District and Gauley rangers mobilized to handle the large crowds and traffic. Few law enforcement incidents resulted from the crowds, but rangers conducted six whitewater patrols, assisting many visitors who were pitched from their boats, handled three emergency evacuations (a back injury, a dislocated shoulder, and a seizure) from the remote area, and recovered two drowning victims. The first occurred on Sunday, September 19th. A 26-year-old foreign exchange student, J.A.Y., spilled out of her commercial raft along with several others at the Iron Curtain rapid on the Gauley River at approximately 9:30 a.m. Iron Curtain rapid is located approximately 3.2 miles below the Lake Summersville Dam. Raft guides commenced a search immediately and notified the National Park Service. NPS rangers trained for swift water rescue, Department of Natural Resources personnel, the Summersville dive rescue team, the Nicholas County Sheriff's Department, a Jan Care ambulance crew, and the Kessler's Cross Lanes volunteer fire department responded and began search efforts. Initial search efforts were unsuccessful, so the National Park Service made a request for a reduction in the river flow. The Army Corps of Engineers at the Summersville Dam commenced a progressive drawdown of the Gauley River at approximately 11:00 a.m. to reduce the amount of water cascading through the river corridor. Normal river flows at the time of the accident were about 2800 cubic feet per second. The drawdown resulted in flows of about 200 cubic feet per second, which allowed rescuers and divers to begin working in the pools in and around the Iron Curtain rapid. The victim was found under a large rock that was undercut by the river around 4 p.m. and her body was recovered. The accident investigation is ongoing. On Monday afternoon, rangers received a report that a 21-year-old man in a private raft had disappeared while running Fingernail Rapid on the Gauley River. The rapid is located about 7.5 miles below the Lake Summersville Dam. National Park Service swift water rescue personnel, Kessler's Cross Lanes volunteer firefighters, Nicholas County Sheriff's Department divers, and West Virginia Department of Natural Resources personnel conducted a search of the area. The raft was recovered, but the missing man was not found. The NPS again asked for a reduction in the river flow. The Army Corps of Engineers at the Summersville Dam commenced a progressive drawdown of the Gauley River, reducing the flow to about 300 cubic feet per second. This made it possible for searchers and divers to begin working in the pools in and around the rapid. Due to darkness and river hazards, search operations had to be suspended for the night. A crew remained on scene overnight to monitor the area. Search crews began working their way back into the area early Tuesday morning and again set up search operations on the rapid. Due to the intricacies of the water system and the distance downstream from the dam, it took most of the day for water flows to recede to levels that allowed searchers to safely work under the deep undercut rock. The body of M.H., a 21-year-old Cleveland, Tennessee, man who was an experienced Ocoee River guide, was found by rangers in the rapid that afternoon. An NPS liaison was assigned to the family and friends, later escorting M.H.'s mother and father to the coroner's office. [Jeff West, Chief Ranger]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS. To see the full text, including images, NPS employees should go to the InsideNPS home page ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index). Non-NPS employees can see most of them on the NPS Digest page ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/):

Climate Change Response Program - The National Park Service recently received a National Science Foundation grant to develop innovative approaches for climate change communications.

Fire and Aviation Management - The Joint Fire Science Program is pleased to announce that the 2011 requests for applications are now open and posted on Grants.gov.

Gettysburg NMP - Zach Bolitho has been selected as the new chief of resource management for Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site. Photo.

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Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).

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