1st Lt. David Sitter
1st Lt. John Morgan
Public Affairs Officer
Group VIII
Ohio Wing
Local Civil Air Patrol Pilot Assists in Air National Guard Training
OHIO -- The small private aircraft, a Cessna 182, was not responding to any messages from air traffic control and was on a path that would take it into restricted air space.
The pilot’s intentions were not known.
Years ago, before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, this scenario would have caused concern but not necessarily alarm. That is no longer the case. This time, fighter aircraft from the Ohio Air National Guard 180th Fighter Wing in Toledo were launched to intercept the possible rogue pilot. Minutes later, the small aircraft was met by a couple of F-16 Fighting Falcons over the farm fields of Ohio.
Fortunately, a rogue flyer was not at the controls. The pilot was 1st Lt. David Sitter of the Ohio Wing’s Columbus Senior Squadron, and he was flying a Civil Air Patrol Cessna 182.
The intercept was part of an ongoing series of training flights called “Keynote Missions.” For the Air Force, the random flights are a critical training tool in maintaining proficiency in tracking and intercepting “low and slow” aircraft.
Typical scenarios, planned weeks in advance, could include an unresponsive pilot with a nonpilot passenger, suspected drug smuggling, a disgruntled former employee flying above an employer, or a pilot flying into restricted airspace.
The Ohio Wing is one of 25 of the 52 CAP wings assisting the Air Force in these missions. The Air Force or Air National Guard unit being evaluated requests these missions, which are then reviewed by the CAP National Operations Center and the regional Air Defense Sector. After approval by the 1st Air Force, the Air Force command responsible for protecting the continental U.S., a mission is assigned to the appropriate CAP wing.
Once the small plane is intercepted, the fighter pilot has a number of options to get the smaller aircraft’s attention. One of the most challenging aspects of these missions is matching the faster aircraft’s speed to that of the smaller, much slower plane during the intercept.
An engineer for L-3 Communications Avionics Systems in Columbus, Sitter has been a CAP member for the last seven years and a mission pilot for the last two. He is deputy commander of the Columbus squadron, a regular participant in the Keynote missions.
Training for these missions has real-life implications, Sitter said. “The recent incursion of a Canadian pilot into U.S. airspace with an alleged stolen aircraft is a great example of these types of missions Civil Air Patrol is supporting,” he said.
He was referring to the April 6 incident in which F-16s of both the Minnesota and Wisconsin Air National Guards intercepted a 31-year-old flight school student from Canada who had violated U.S. airspace. The Guard pilots followed his Cessna 172 until it eventually ran out gas and landed on a dirt road in Missouri.
Sitter is honored to play a part in our nation’s defense. “Civil Air Patrol has been an avenue for me to give back to our country,” he said, “for a freedom that has allowed me to fulfill a passion of mine-aviation!”