FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012

CONTACT:
Air National Guard Maj. Elena O’Bryan
720-250-1053

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (2/21/12) – The Colorado Army National Guard was called to assist in finding an emergency locator transmitter beacon near the Eagle County Airport in Eagle, Colo., today.

One OH-58 Kiowa helicopter with a crew of two COARNG Citizen-Soldiers on board, launched at 3:35 p.m. from the High-altitude Army National Guard Aviation Training Site in Gypsum, Colo. 

HAATS performs a critical mission, providing life-saving combat aviation skills to American pilots serving in mountainous Afghanistan and other austere environments around the world. 

The unit also assists civil authorities in the high country, with 57 percent of all aviation-supported search and rescues in the United States. 

HAATS is located between Vail and Glenwood Springs, Colo. The school trains military rotary-wing pilots from around the world in power management, which gives pilots the knowledge and confidence to operate their aircraft routinely and safely at maximum gross weights in any environment and especially at high altitudes in a power-limited environment.  

Rescue efforts are coordinated through the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, which notifies the Colorado National Guard’s Joint Operations Center in Centennial, Colo. AFRCC ties into the Federal Aviation Administration’s alerting system and the U.S. Mission Control Center. 

For more information, contact the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office at 970-376-7078.

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