The Civil Air Patrol, a volunteer-staffed stalwart in tsunamis, air and sea searches and disaster damage assessments, is facing budget cuts that could cripple its mission in Hawai'i.

The organization had 10 aircraft last year, is down to 9 planes now, and has been threatened with a reduction to five planes as the CAP nationally works to do its part in meeting Air Force budget restrictions.

"Nine is the minimum number I need to (issue statewide coastal warnings for) a tsunami without making somebody wait," said CAP Hawai'i Wing commander Jeffrey Stickel.

In a tsunami, the planes, equipped with sirens and loudspeakers, are dispatched along coastlines to alert fishers, campers, people in regions out of earshot of civil defense sirens, boaters anchored near shore and others.

A standard alert would send Hilo and Kona-based planes along the Big Island's coast; the Maui-based plane would handle Maui. Two of O'ahu's planes would fly the O'ahu coastline while two more would cover Moloka'i and Lana'i. The two Kaua'i planes would head in opposite directions: one north along the island's east and north sides, one south along remote southern Kaua'i beaches and then across to isolated Ni'ihau, where 200 people live in a coastal village and where fishing boats sometimes anchor while crews rest.

"They fly over gap areas in our warning system. They play a critical role," said Ed Teixeira, vice director of state Civil Defense.

"It has been brought to my attention recently that the Air Force could reduce the number of airframes across the nation, including Hawai'i."

The value of the Civil Air Patrol, a volunteer auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is incalculable in an island state, he said.

The organization has a range of missions in the state, but "our bread and butter is tsunami warning," said Hawai'i Wing vice commander and director of operations Thomas Brehm.

Other operations include conducting search and rescue missions, assessing disaster areas from the air and drug enforcement and homeland security missions.

The organization's commitment is that it can launch aircraft statewide within an hour of getting an alert.

The Hawai'i Wing last year had 10 aircraft — nine of them single-engine Cessnas equipped for a range of emergency response functions, and a single twin-engine craft for extended over-ocean missions. The Air Force sold one of the Cessnas last year, leaving nine planes.

Stickel said funding shortfalls in recent years have cut the amount of time the planes are flying, and the Air Force has concluded that the Hawai'i Wing only has enough flight time to justify five aircraft.

"Their formula is flight utilization. The ideal is 200 hours on each airplane. Because we have not been funded, we have not realized that goal," he said.

Stickel spent last week in Washington, D.C., lobbying members of Congress and making Hawai'i's case to CAP officials nationally. One argument is that when most Mainland states find themselves short of needed aircraft, they can bring in help from a neighboring state. That doesn't work in Hawai'i, Stickel said. He said CAP officials in Washington recognized that issue.

"Whatever we've got here is all we have," Stickel said.

He is hopeful that the cut in aircraft can be limited, but fears it will be impossible to prevent some loss of coverage. Meanwhile, he and Civil Defense authorities are asking the Legislature for financial help — $60,000 for operations and maintenance, and $75,000 for building repairs.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com.