Predator, Reaper Aid in Stateside, International Search-and-Rescue Missions



By Danielle Lucey



Today, General Atomics announced that its MQ-1 Predators and MQ-9 Reapers supported search-and rescue efforts in separate incidents in October — helping find a missing hiker in New Mexico and finding migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea in makeshift vessels from North Africa to Italy. 



The aircraft were operated by the 49th Wing at Holloman Air Force Base to find an injured and missing hiker in the Lincoln National Forest in New Mexico last October. The planes were able to narrow the search area so law enforcement could focus on more likely locations where the hiker, a German national, would be. Holloman Air Force Base supported a similar mission with the aircraft in April 2012 when kayakers went missing in New Mexico. 



“These recent rescues represent continuing examples of the life-saving capabilities that these multimission aircraft demonstrate both at home and abroad,” says Frank Pace, president of the Aircraft Systems division at General Atomics. 



The Italian government also used the Predator-series of aircraft to support a search-and-rescue mission to help locate migrant boats attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea in October. The aircraft collaborated with Italian helicopters and naval vessels as a part of Operation Mare Nostrum, which attempted to find and save migrants after many were killed trying to cross in vessels they’d crafted. 



“We are pleased to provide the Italian air force with this quick-reaction capability for Operation Mare Nostrum,” says Linden Blue, CEO of General Atomics.