The following is an open request for help to anyone who can.
Please read the following stories, provided courtesy of the Corpus Christi Caller Times:
By: Fanny S. Chirinos, Elaine Masilio
CORPUS CHRISTI — Coast Guard officials confirmed late Friday they found the body of one of the Navy pilots missing since Wednesday.
Coast Guard crews found the body 11 miles northeast of Port Aransas after receiving a call from a floating rig about 4:40 p.m. reporting something in the water, said Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Nick Leiter.
The other pilot has not been found and no debris from the plane has been located, Leiter said.
Navy officials identified the pilots Friday as Lt. John Joseph Houston and Lt. Bret Travis Miller.
Coast Guard officials did not identify the name of the deceased.
Both instructors have combat support experience and were graduates of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. Houston’s hometown is listed as Houston, and Miller’s hometown is listed as East Troy, Wis.
Officials planned to continue searching through the night with boats and resume the aerial search at sunrise. They continued to search an area from Port Aransas to Port O’Connor, Leiter said, but have concentrated search efforts in the area where the body was found.
There had been no communication from the pilots since they lost communication with the base tower Wednesday afternoon.
Crews from the Navy, Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection searched land and water from Port Aransas to Port O’Connor, from 30 miles offshore to 25 miles inland.
About 3,900 square miles have been searched, starting with the last known coordinates of the T-34C Turbomentor, a training aircraft, and its crew, said Capt. Robert Paulison, the Coast Guard’s Corpus Christi sector commander.
Houston and Miller left the base Wednesday on a routine two-hour training mission and lost communication with the base tower at 3:17 p.m. There was no indication before losing communication that the men were having trouble, said Capt. David Price, commodore of Training Air Wing 4.
Having two instructors on this sort of exercise is the typical training profile, he said.
Officials declined to give the plane’s departure time. Lt. Brett Dawson, a spokesman for the Chief of Naval Air Training, said the pilots’ flight plan was under investigation.
Lt. John Joseph Houston
Age: 29
Hometown: Houston
Education: U.S. Naval Academy, 2002
Awards/Decorations: Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Sea Service Deployment Medal
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Search continues for missing pilot, plane
By: Fanny S. Chirinos
CORPUS CHRISTI — A Navy salvage vessel from Virginia will arrive in the next week to help search for a missing Navy pilot and his plane that crashed Wednesday. The Navy Salvage Dive Team will continue its search effort until the vessel arrives.
Coast Guard and Navy recovery efforts changed Monday after the Coast Guard cutter Harry Claiborne had mechanical problems. The ship was fixed and returned Tuesday morning to its homeport of Galveston, said Coast Guard Ensign Scott Kimball. The ship is not expected to return, he added.
The salvage vessel from Virginia travels slowly and is not expected for a week, said Brett Dawson, a spokesman for the Chief of Naval Air Training. The Navy also is contemplating hiring a contract salvage vessel, he said.
“In the meantime, the dive team is looking at points of interest,” Dawson said.
Coast Guard crews began search and rescue efforts last week when two instructor pilots from the base lost communication with the base tower while on a routine training mission in a T-34C Turbomentor. The body of Lt. Bret Travis Miller, 30, of East Troy, Wisc., was found in the water Friday about 11 miles northeast of Port Aransas.
The other pilot, Lt. John Joseph Houston, 29, of Houston, still is missing. Pieces of the single-engine training aircraft were found but did not indicate what went wrong, Dawson said Monday.
The pilots were part of Training Air Wing Four’s VT-28 squadron. The squadron last week convened an aviation mishap board, the group conducting the investigation.
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Now I will tell you that I do not know either of the pilots personally, but I know some people who know them and those folks need our help, need your help, need my help. Currently search efforts are underway by the United States Navy, and starting 4 November 2009 Texas Eccusearch(http://texasequusearch.org/), myself and a handful of others who have all joined together to help find one of our fellow Americans.
You should all know by now that it is not too often that I ask anyone for help, but right now I’m asking anyone who will listen to please do whatever it is that you can to help. Physically being here to help search, assisting in organization, offer advise, whatever it is I need your help. Donate a part of yourself for someone else, do it for nothing else but for the sake of doing so.
I’ve reached out to: http://1-800-VOLUNTEER.org http://volunteercentercorpus.org/
I and everyone who is involved would also like to ask if you would please find it in your hearts to say prayer not only for Mr. Houston, but for Mr. Bret Travis Miller, and both of their families, as they deal with these trying of times.
Below I’ve attached more information and will continue to do so periodically as there is more to update. You’ll also find the contact information for those who are leading this search, and who can answer your questions.
I ask that if/when you do contact those listed below you will understand if there is not an immediate response to your phone call or email.
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This is the status for tomorrow. There may be changes for Thursday and the rest of the week. We will send out an updated email as we have information.
Dear Friends,
Thank you for all being involved with this and showing your interest. Here's what we came up with at the meeting. There will be two groups going out 4 November 2009. One at 8:00 AM and the other at 12:00 PM. The ferry over to San Jose Island leaves promptly at those times so be there at 7:30AM or 11:30AM. The 8AM crew will be grouped when we meet at the ferry. The noon group needs to go over on the ferry without being grouped. Someone (probably Nicole) will be waiting to put you in a group when you get on the island. Let me know if you plan on going and what time so we have a general idea of how many people and also there are a few people who need rides.
There is a $12 roundtrip fee per person for the ferry (we are working on getting the fee reduced).
The meeting place to get on the ferry:
Fisherman's Wharf
900 Tarpon St.
Port Aransas, TX 78373
You will be grouped into 5's with one leader and designated to one search area to ensure that we don't duplicate. The leader will have a GPS and maps. Please let someone know if you have medical experience before being grouped.
This is a beachy/marshy/heavy brush island.
Please dress accordingly:
Long pants, hiking boots, bright colored shirt (so that you're visible to your group and Joe), and something reflective if possible. Please be prepared by bringing:
-backpack
-whistle
-hat
-sunscreen
-bug spray
-water (1 gallon per person in bottles, not jugs)
-food/snacks for yourself
-cell phone
OPTIONAL ITEMS
-binoculars
-GPS
-first aid kit
If anybody has a mountain bike please bring it. We need them to send people further down the island. You can take your bike on the ferry but no motorized vehicles.
We need food/snacks and water to pass out to the volunteers.
Please contact Tawny Novosad if you'd like to help with food. 361-876-8969 or tawnynovosad@yahoo.com
We also are trying to raise money to help pay for the ferry, gas, and other search expenses. You can email myself or Tawny if you can help in this area.
Matt Kavanagh is the point person for search planning. 610-905-5085
Please email me (Amy Warner) if you're going to search and let me know what time. 361-334-6703
If anybody has access to boats, jet skis, helicopters, or other means of search transportation please let us know.
Here is a link that has specific prayer requests from the family. Please be praying! http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fsenduit.com%2Fb8c5ea&h=e3e27bd08fa59559c2cd8e6341000902
We do have offers for babysitting if needed. Again, please let us know.
PASS THIS ON! The more people we can get helping, the more area can be covered. Please forward this email. Thanks again and anything you can do is greatly appreciated.
Blessings,
Dave and Amy Warner
Matt Kavanagh and Nicole Lamberti
Nick and Tawny Novosad
and many more
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