Capstone has completed its first real-world test and saved alife in the process. Launched in 1999, the program has installed $19,000 worthof special navigation equipment on 189 commercial airplanes operating inAlaska’s Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. The goal of the program is to reduce aviationaccidents in the region where there is no radar, the terrain is rough andweather can very quickly turn from bad to worse. On October 30, Erick Gutierrezflew from Bethel 75 miles north to the small village of Marshall. Afterdropping off passengers and cargo, he departed in his Cessna 207 for a returntrip to Bethel, but crashed along the way. Searchers were able to contact theFAA for the Cessna’s last Capstone transmission to help locate the plane.Capstone equipment includes a computer screen that displays detailed movingmaps, the location of other planes flying in the area and weather data. Theequipment sends out a signal with its aircraft’s location that is then relayedby satellite to ground-based terminals in a dozen or so villages. Gutierrez wasfound and transported to Anchorage’s Providence Alaska Medical Center fortreatment.
