 In addition to CAP's own corporate fleet, many member-owned aircraft are made available for official tasking by CAP's volunteers should the need arise. Aircraft on search missions are generally crewed by at least three qualified aircrew members: a Mission Pilot, responsible for the safe flying of the aircraft; a mission observer, responsible for navigation, communications and coordination of the mission as well as ground observation; and a mission scanner who is responsible for looking for crash sites and damage clues. Additionally, the mission scanner may double as an Satellite Digital Imaging System (SDIS) operator. Larger aircraft may have additional scanners aboard, providing greater visual coverage. Because of the additional ARCHER equipment, the crew of a Civil Air Patrol GA8 Airvan may also include an operator of the ARCHER system, depending upon the requirements of the mission and the capabilities of the aircraft.
