Weather delays recovery effort

EAGLE, Colo. Strong wind and poor visibility prevented effortstoday to reach what the Air Force believes may be the wreckage of anA-10 warplane missing for nearly three weeks after a mysteriousflight into the Rockies.

A four-member recovery team was on standby after scraps of paperspotted Sunday on a 2-mile-high peak directed searchers' attention todebris resting above an area of old gold and silver mines.

However, the poor weather delayed the arrival of a powerfulhelicopter that could carry the team to the site, said Maj. Gen.Nels Running.The MH-53A helicopter, expected to arrive before noon fromKirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, was grounded by the weather atLeadville, about 40 miles southeast of Eagle, and was delayed untilat least late afternoon, said Air Force Col. Denver Pletcher. Thatruled out any attempt to get the team to the site today, he said.The helicopter is powerful enough to withstand some high wind,and also can fly at altitudes of up to 16,000 feet and lift 20,000pounds.Officials were being cautious about the weather because thesearch team would have to dangle 100 to 200 feet below thehelicopter."I'm not going to ask them to handle 45 m.p.h. winds," Runningsaid.There was no sign of the A-10 Thunderbolt's 32-year-old pilot,Capt. Craig Button, who could have ejected without the Air Force'sknowledge.The plane has been missing since April 2, when Button took offfrom a Tucson, Ariz., base on a routine training mission, brokeformation and headed to Colorado with four bombs aboard.The crew of a National Guard helicopter spotted the wreckageSunday on an unnamed steep cliff near New York Mountain and Gold DustPeak, 15 miles southwest of Vail.A close-up look revealed pieces of gray painted metal that couldhave been from the plane's interior and several smaller pieces ofmetal, Running said. Yellow-green paint used as an anti-corrosioncoating inside the airplane was also visible.Helicopter pilots Richard Rugg and Dale Jensen, both chiefwarrant officers were surprised at what they saw."The first thing we saw was just a couple pieces of paper," saidRugg, who added it was unusual to see that at such a high altitude."Then something just caught my eye."Rugg and Jensen battled wind to position their Huey to within 30feet of the site after spotting the paper. A-10 pilot Capt. ChuckMitchell was flown by in a helicopter to verify that it was aThunderbolt."It didn't look like an A-10," at first, Mitchell said. Closerexamination supported Running's declaration of 99.9 percent certaintythey had found their plane.Running said searchers probably "flew by it 20 times," but itwas only recently that warmer weather began melting snow to reveal acouple dozen small pieces of the plane.The warplane was not carrying live rounds in its guns because itwas on a training exercise. The Air Force said it believed the500-pound bombs attached to the warplane were not activated and wouldhave remained intact if the plane crashed.