Civil Air Patrol Aids in Gulf Oil Spill

June 1, 2010 — While BP and other organizations try to stop and contain the flow of oil spewing in the Gulf Coast after an oil rig exploded, members from the Mississippi, Alabama and Florida wings of the Civil Air Patrol are launching daily aerial damage assessment flights. CAP’s critical missions in support of Deepwater Horizon Response have included flying VIPs over coastal waters to get a look at the integrity of oil containment barriers, transporting vital mission equipment, collecting data and flying coastline photo reconnaissance missions. The most important task the CAP aircrews perform is making daily flights over 700 miles of coastline from Louisiana to Florida and taking digital images of the oil containment barriers and adjacent land area near the shoreline, wrote Capt. Phil Norris, assistant director of public affairs for the Southeast region. Click here to read his full press release. In 13 days of flying missions, 26 volunteers have expended 2,128 man-hours making 73 flights in 12 CAP aircraft, for a total of 197 hours in the air over the waters along the Gulf Coast. On an average day, the aircrews take from 2,400 to 3,600 digital images. The images represent critical information that planners are using to help determine their response to the spill, which began April 20 following an explosion at the BP-operated Deepwater Horizon oil rig.  “Whether it is performing duties as an aircrew member, mission base or support staff, the opportunity to serve with Civil Air Patrol in response to this incident is an honor,” said Maj. Keith Riddle, inspector general for the Mississippi Wing.

Maj. John Neil right, the Alabama Wing’s director of operations, and Capt. Glenn Wilson, an imaging expert from the wing’s Bessemer Composite Squadron, examine a coastal map at the Operation Deepwater Horizon command center. Photo credit: Capt. Phil Norris, CAP . Capt. Glenn Wilson, left, consults with Eric Brockwell, a geographic imaging system technician working with data collected by CAP crews. Photo credit: Capt. Phil Norris, CAP

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