Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 News
    
        Photos

    Week in Photos

    Air Force TV

    Commentaries

    Features

    Art

    About Us
    
        Air Force Senior Leaders
    
        SECAF

    CSAF

    CMSAF

    Biographies

    Fact Sheets

    SECAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library
    
        CSAF Leadership Library 2022

    CSAF Leadership Library 2021

    CSAF Reading List Pre-2020 Archive
    
        2018 CSAF Reading List

    2017 CSAF Reading List

    2016 CSAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library 2023

    CMSAF Leadership Library

    50 Years of the CMSAF

    Adjunct Professors

    Air Force Strategic Documents

    Arctic Strategy

    Empowered Airmen

    State Licensure Portability

    Careers

    AF Federal Advisory Committees

    AF 75th Anniversary

    Policy Updates

    AF Content Management

    Contact Us

    AF Sites
    
        Site RegistrationU.S. Air Force LogoAir Force

        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      New York Air Guard assists search for lost submersiblePublished June 23, 2023
                    
                    By Capt. Cheran Campbell and Eric Durr
                    
                    
                    New York National Guard
            **F.S. GABRESKI AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, N.Y. (AFNS) --**Thirty-eight Airmen assigned to the **New York National Guard**’s **106th Rescue Wing** were part of the effort to locate the commercial submersible Titan that imploded while diving to the wreck of the **RMS Titanic**.The view from the window of an HC-130J Combat King II search and rescue aircraft 500 feet over the Atlantic Ocean June 21, 2023, while the New York Air National Guard crew searched for a submersible lost while diving to the wreck of the Titanic. The Coast Guard said June 22 that the sub imploded, killing all five people on board.The view from the window of an HC-130J Combat King II search and rescue aircraft 500 feet over the Atlantic Ocean June 21, 2023, while the New York Air National Guard crew searched for a submersible lost while diving to the wreck of the RMS Titanic. The Coast Guard said June 22 that the sub imploded, killing all five people on board. (Air National Guard photo)
            
            
            Photo Details /
                Download Hi-Res

    











The wing launched three search missions 900 miles out over the North Atlantic from their base on the eastern tip of Long Island June 19-21 at the request of the **U.S. Coast Guard**.
The Coast Guard’s Sector Boston coordinated the search and rescue mission, which was launched when the 22-foot-long, 8-foot-wide vessel lost contact with its mother ship.
On June 22, the Coast Guard announced the Titan had imploded, killing all five people aboard. But that was not known when the 106th RW launched its first search at 3:18 p.m. June 19.
Most wing members were celebrating the **Juneteenth** holiday, but when the word went out that a rescue was underway, Airmen responded, according to Maj. Patrick Harding, the mission coordinator for the search operations.
“Every time we get a phone call for a mission, everyone at the base is eager to participate,” Harding said.
The **HC-130J Combat King II** search and rescue plane launched with six aircrew, two maintenance personnel and five pararescue jumpers.
Col. Jeffery Cannet, 106th Operation Group commander, said the pararescuemen were on the mission with rescue supplies in case the submersible was spotted bobbing on the surface. The plan would be to jump from the aircraft and provide aid as needed.
The maintenance personnel were along in case the aircraft had to be diverted to another airport instead of returning home to Long Island. They also helped look out to sea for the missing craft, Cannet said.
The first search mission returned to base at 2 a.m.
It was a challenging mission, said Capt. Christopher Colewell, one of the pilots.
“We didn’t have a lot of illumination. It was very, very difficult to conduct a search,” he said.
Harding said crew members were assigned specific roles and tools to optimize the search.
Personnel were assigned to manage the radar and the forward-looking infrared systems, known as FLIR.
Harding said the “scanners” on the long missions looked out the aircraft’s ports as the plane flew its search grid.
The flights launched on June 20 and 21 did not include pararescuemen due to information learned about the submersible after the first mission.
The rescue wing asked for volunteers to serve as scanners for those 10-hour flights. There were 13 Airmen on the June 20 flight and 12 on the June 21 mission.
Tech. Sgt. Wendy Carranza, a medical technician in the wing’s 106th Medical Group, said she was happy to volunteer to help.
“As an aerospace medical technician, we rely on all of our senses to help others in any situation that may arise to the best of our ability,” she said. “Using my eyesight against the current and with the current was an experience I will never forget.”
Tech. Sgt. Roberta Farris, noncommissioned officer in charge, commander and control operations, was another scanner on the flight.
“You don’t realize how vast the ocean is until you are looking out the window of the C-130 searching for a white capsule amongst the many whitecaps,” Farris said.
Col. Shawn Fitzgerald, the 106th Rescue Wing commander, applauded the 106th Airmen for their efforts.


    
    New York Air National Guard Master Sgt. Rich Cestaro, the 106th Rescue Wing ground superintendent, scanning the  Atlantic Ocean from the window of an HC-130J Combat King II search and rescue aircraft June 21, 2023, for a submersible that went missing while diving to the wreck of the Titanic. Several Airmen were scanners looking for the missing Titan submarine in support of the Coast Guard.New York Air National Guard Master Sgt. Rich Cestaro, the 106th Rescue Wing ground superintendent, scans the Atlantic Ocean from the window of an HC-130J Combat King II search and rescue aircraft June 21, 2023, for a submersible that went missing while diving to the wreck of the RMS Titanic. Several Airmen were scanners looking for the missing Titan submersible in support of the Coast Guard. (Air National Guard photo)
            
            
            Photo Details /
                Download Hi-Res

    










“We would have loved for a better outcome, but I’m proud of our Airmen and their ability to quickly aid in this search,” Fitzgerald said. “My condolences to the family members of the lost. Our thoughts are with you.”
Maj. Gen. Ray Shields, the adjutant general of New York, praised the wing’s Airmen for responding “quickly and professionally as they have in the past when called for other missions. Our men and women are always ready to respond when needed.”
Missions into the North Atlantic are nothing new for the 106th RW.
On May 20, 2022, the 106th RW flew 1,200 miles over the Atlantic Ocean and dropped medical supplies so a sailboat crew could treat a sailor burned in an accident.
On April 24, 2017, pararescue jumpers from the 106th RW jumped into the Atlantic Ocean 1,500 miles from shore at night and performed emergency surgery on two seamen aboard the M/V Tamar who were injured in a fire.LR 



USAF 



AF 



Air Force 



NYANG 



106th Rescue Wing 



search and rescue 



submersible 



titan 



RMS Titanic 



lost at sea 



supporting the nation 



Coast Guard 



Atlantic Ocean 



mission 



HC-130J Combat King II 



FLIR Featured News
        Senior Leader Priorities
                DAF leaders talk budget, reoptimizing the force
                    
                    DAF leaders speak at National Character and Leadership Symposium
                    
                    DAF members recognized during BEYA STEM awards
                    
                    DAF senior enlisted advisors discuss Airmen, Guardians in the fight
                    
                    SecAF Kendall AFA Warfare Symposium Q&A: Reoptimizing for Great Power CompetitionInnovation
                AFWERX director discusses role of tech startups, quick innovation in Great Power Competition
                    
                    DAF delivers lethality at the speed of data during Project Convergence Capstone 4
                    
                    DAF welcomes industry partners to HQ development program
                    
                    DAF announces Spark Tank 2024 finalists
                    
                    Chief Digital, Artificial Intelligence Office to host hackathon in HawaiiMAJCOM News
                Safety enterprise announces new mission, vision, goals in 2024 strategic plan
                    
                    Air Combat Command welcomes new commander
                    
                    USAFE-AFAFRICA commander discusses Integrated Air, Missile Defense during Munich Security Conference
                    
                    Flosi to AFMC family: Embrace change, make every day count
                    
                    AMC rises to increasing global tension
 Quick Links
AccessibilityContact UsEqual OpportunityFOIA | Privacy | Section 508Information QualityInspector GeneralJAG Court-Martial DocketLink DisclaimerNo FEAR ActOpen GovernmentOSI Tip LinePlain LanguageQuestionsResilienceRSSSite MapVeterans Crisis LineCareers
Join the Air ForceAir Force BenefitsAir Force CareersAir Force ReserveAir National GuardCivilian ServiceConnect
            Get Social with Us
            
            Official United States Air Force Website
    Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil