Recovery search suspended for combat controller lost in Gulf of Mexico

[rangerrebew]

Recovery search suspended for combat controller lost in Gulf of Mexico
By: Stephen Losey   21 hours ago


The military has suspended its efforts to recover the body of Staff Sgt. Cole Condiff, a combat controller who was lost in the Gulf of Mexico from a C-130 earlier this month, the Air Force said in a Saturday release.

Condiff had what the Air Force referred to as an “unplanned parachute departure” on Nov. 5, south of Hurlburt Field, Florida. Since then, four branches of the military, including the Air Force and Coast Guard, conducted round-the-clock efforts first to try to save Condiff, and later to recover his remains.

https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2019/11/25/recovery-search-suspended-for-combat-controller-lost-in-gulf-of-mexico/

[Smokin Joe]

Isn't there some sort of ELT transmitter they could put on the harness for situations like his? IIRC, there was a Marine pilot who also was not rescued (but was recovered) who survived in the water for 8 hrs according to his smartwatch. Something that could transmit a GPS coordinate might make SAR more effective.

[sneakypete]

Isn't there some sort of ELT transmitter they could put on the harness for situations like his?

@Smokin Joe

Yes,and I would be shocked to discover he wasn't wearing one. Then again,as the loadmaster on a USAF aircraft,there is no one there to monitor him and order him to put one on,and chances are he had operated around open ramps thousands of times and never fallen out before,so may not have seen the need to wear one. It's usually the pros that make the rookie mistakes because the rookies are too scared to take chances.

There is also a more remote possibility he was wearing one and it was damaged somehow.

It's not going to do him any good,but I strongly suspect there is an AF officer somewhere in that chain of command that has been ripped a new one over this loss even though he wasn't there. In the military you are responsible for the injuries or deaths of the people under your command even if you are a thousand miles away.