On 2 April 1997 a US Air Force A-10A crashed just below the summit of Gold Dust Peak near Eagle Colorado. A CH-47 Chinook helicopter from Detachment 1, Company G, 140th Aviation, Nevada Army National Guard, approaches the landing zone of the Navy's staging area. Soon the Navy will begin searching Lake Charles for any signs of the four Mark 82 bombs. Lake Charles is just one of the six lakes that are contained in the exclusion zone and is the fourth that will be searched by these (Not Shown) Naval Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technicians. To date nothing of relevance has been located, 7 September 1997

The A-10 Thunderbolt has excellent maneuverability at low airspeeds and altitude and is a highly accurate and survivable weapons-delivery platform. Called the “Warthog” for its aggressive look and often painted with teeth on the nose cone, the A-10 Thunderbolt II is the U.S. Air Force’s primary low-altitude close air support aircraft best known for its GAU-8 Avenger 30mm Gatling gun designed to fire armor-piercing depleted uranium and high explosive incendiary rounds. In the 1970s the threat of Soviet armored forces and all-weather attack operations had become more serious. Six companies submitted aircraft proposals, with Northrop and Fairchild-Republic selected to build prototypes: the YA-9A and YA-10A, respectively. General Electric and Philco-Ford were selected to build and test GAU-8 cannon prototypes. First A-10 was delivered to the U.S. Air Force on 30 March 1976. By 1984, 715 airplanes had been built.