Warplanes to Search for Missing Teen [in Aruba]

CNN.com ^ | 7/03/2005 | AP

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

ORANJESTAD, Aruba (AP) -- Holland will send three F-16 warplanes rigged with search equipment to find Natalee Holloway, Aruban authorities said Saturday, as U.S. lawmakers increased pressure on the Aruban government to do more to find the Alabama teenager nearly five weeks since she disappeared.

The three planes, equipped with infrared and sonar-scanning capacity, were expected to arrive Sunday afternoon, said Aruban government spokesman Ruben Trapenberg.

[Xenalyte]

Xena's prediction is that they'll come up snake-eyes.

[patriciaruth]

The only snake eyes I've seen are those controlling, aloof, nascient evil eyes of the van der Sloot kid.

Okay, now I'm on record with my feelings; and I understand that feelings aren't facts.

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

I'll bet she shows up a few years from now alive on another island

[azhenfud]

Same here - they can't find her at a walking speed and AGL, wonder why they think 700+ NMPH and 1200 AGL would be any more productive?

[newzjunkey]

That wouldn't surprise me but it's not the likely outcome. It's more likely she was killed after exercising very poor judgment.

How these F-16's are supposed to locate her is anyone's guess. What sort of infrared image do you get from a corpse at hundreds of mph? Seems there would be fare more efficient (slower) aircraft for this task.

[sgtbono2002]

I believe the most this will do is give a good vacation to a few military men from Holland. Hope they have a nice time.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Here's the tool that the Aruban authorities need to use.

[Socratic]

Ouch!

[chainsaw]

Same here - they can't find her at a walking speed

I had the same thought, also - Sonar at 700 mph??? sonar is for under water, and could be better used with/by a surface craft.

My take is Sharks tell no tales.

[patriciaruth]

A bet?

I'll take the bet.

I'll bet that by 2008, she hasn't been seen alive once by any credible person.

Winner to pay $25 or $50 to FReeRepublic during first FReepathon of 2008.

[tiamat]

I think the Dutch are just trying to be seen as doing something about this.

So they spend a bunch of money and send some planes in order to say, "See? We tried".

I think Natalee is sleeping with the fishes, personally.

[TADSLOS]

End result- Three Dutch F16 pilots get an all expenses paid vacation in Aruba.

[jwh_Denver]

I thought the Dutch get everything all expenses paid.

[brushcop]

Exactly, that seems preposterous. I've been involved in many searches and a few which included high-tech FLIR (forward looking infrared radar, which sounds like what the Dutch will be using at 700+ mph) mounted in helicopters looking for drowning victims. We did find lots of animal carcasses in debris piles however. Too much reliance on high-tech gear is usually unproductive unfortunately and very expensive.

[RedMonqey]

Aruban CYA action. Can you say "Public Relations stunt"?

I knew you could.

[tiamat]

Pretty much!

The whole thing seems to have been fumbled from the start, in one way or another.

[beckaz]

Double ouch!!

Any particular body parts in mind?

[Rockpile]

The following is from the Milavia site regarding the Netherlands Air Force.

http://www.milavia.net/airforces/netherlands/rnlaf.htm

"For civilian support personnel and equipment are available. The AB-412 search and rescue helicopters are on stand-by to react to emergencies in the northwest of the country. For example ships that are in trouble or civilians on the islands that need transport to a hospital. The AH-64 Apache has been deployed in search of escaped criminals. The F-16 has been used for photo reconnaissance to locate buried corpses for a murder investigation."