(1)
Pennsylvania Wing Group IV cadets secure the incident site on the closed Quakertown Airport runway.
(2, 3)
Different views of the site.
(4)
Group IV members perform a foreign object debris check on the runway after the overturned Cessna’s removal.
(5)
(From left) Quakertown Composite Squadron 904’s emergency services training officer, 1st Lt. Daniel Smith; Maj. Jeff Buchman, Group IV deputy commander; and 1st Lt. Glenn Koehler, the Quakertown deputy commander for cadets.
(6)
Col. Joseph Guimond at the incident site.
(7)
Maj. Heather Weaver, Quakertown commander, with a local first responder.
1st Lt. Ken Hearn
Public Affairs Officer
Germantown Composite Squadron 904
Pennsylvania Wing
PENNSYLVANIA — Just as Group IV members assembled March 6 at Quakertown Airport for a search and rescue training weekend, actual events took over.
Instruction in techniques was getting under way that morning under the guidance of Maj. Jeff Buchman, Group IV commander, and 1st Lt. Glenn Koehler, the group’s operations officer. Maj. Heather Weaver, Quakertown Composite Squadron 904 commander, and other senior members were gathering to support field logistics, communications and meals. Pilots were coming from other squadrons to offer orientation flights as time permitted.
Over on the airport’s very active runway, though, an unfolding mishap would change the agenda. There, with his instructor looking out from the airport office, a young civilian student pilot on a solo approach to Runway 29 lined up and landed his Cessna 152.
While landing the aircraft bounced, and the novice pilot failed to keep the plane on centerline. The main landing gear caught snow adjacent the runway, dug in and flipped the Cessna over. The pilot’s instructor ran out to help.
Fortunately, the pilot was firmly harnessed in. His 38 hours of training had included instruction for just such a possibility, and he was unhurt. Calls to first responders went out from another flight instructor, former Civil Air Patrol cadet Edward Segaar, who happened to be on the scene.
After calls to the Pennsylvania Emergengy Management Agency and then the Air Force Network Operations Center, the approved mission to secure the site began under Buchman’s command. Cadets and senior members stood ready to relieve local firefighters and state and local police after any fire threat was eliminated.
The Pennsylvania Wing members maintained airport and runway security until the Federal Aviation Administration could assess the incident, remove the aircraft and reopen the airport.
In the meantime Col. Joseph Guimond, a CAP national staff member and former Pennsylvania Wing and Northeast Region commander, happened to arrive at the airport to fly, having left for the location before the notice to airmen regarding the closure appeared on the FAA Web site. Guimond learned of the situation when cadets met him at the airport entrance.
Later in the day, 1st Lt. Ken Hearn,public affairs officer for the Quakertown squadron, which is headquartered at the airport, spoke with Guimond about the opportunity the occurrence offered for the CAP members, especially the cadets.
“This gives the cadets a chance to utilize skills learned and earned from training sessions and put them to use operating on a real mission,” Guimond said. “They are learning about interagency cooperation, as we have state police, multiple fire departments and civilian volunteers on site.
“They are learning firsthand about securing the site to let the first responders do their job safely and only allowing needed personnel past checkpoints to reduce the confusion,” he said.
“This is just one of the many missions of Civil Air Patrol.”
In a note to Weaver and her colleagues, Guimond commended those involved for a job well done. “The professionalism of both the cadets and their senior leaders was impressive,” the note said. “The cadets remained on scene until the aircraft was removed from the runway environment and the field could be reopened to traffic.”
The airport reopened after the runway was inspected for debris that could damage another airplane. The upended Cessna’s pilot was unharmed and stayed with the cadets until FAA authorities arrived.
The scheduled training resumed after the excitement, and the rest of the weekend proved to be a huge success.
In addition, Segaar has rejoined CAP as a member of the Quakertown squadron.
