Synthetic Aperture Radar: The NCCS Enables Search and RescueFor as long as planes have gone down, dedicated men and women have used ever-improving technologies to aid their search for survivors. Nearly 2,000 general aviation crashes occur each year in U.S.-and many, like the Montana incident, occur without witnesses. On average, every day in the U.S. one airplane is reported missing. The Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC) organizes search missions for about 100 aircraft each year. Some of these are not found before the searches called off, and are discovered only by chance long after the crash. In some cases, the crash site is never found. NASA Search and Rescue Mission is using NCCS rescues to develop tools for processing radar data that can help these effort