Archive for November, 2009
For Emergency Use Only: Locator Beacons
For the past few years, I’ve been doing all I can to teach my teenage sons about the virtues of self-reliance. I find that the best venue for these lessons is the great outdoors, where nature rewards those who think quickly and logically while punishing fools and cowards. Don’t get me wrong: I’m not the sort of dad who taught his kids to swim by throwing them in the lake. However, it’s my firm belief that we learn best by doing, and that physical and mental challenges only make us stronger.
Before venturing into the woods for a fun but taxing hike with the boys, I always sit down and figure out exactly all the supplies we’ll need to bring along. Decades of experience have taught me how to survive in the wilderness, and I would never overlook the essentials of food, water and shelter. Last year, we decided to take along a GME personal locator beacon as well, vowing only to use it in case of a dire emergency.
ACR, the leading manufacturer in personal locator beacons, has introduced the latest line in PLBs. The SARLink personal locator beacon is the best one they have made yet. The cost is much lower and the unit does more than the previous units. It’s weight is less, it is able to perform more self tests, it operates for a longer period of time, and it has a flashing strobe on it as well. If you are in the market for a personal locator beacon or have been waiting a while until the prices drop, now is the time to look at the NEW SARLink from ACR Electronics.
The Mexican government had decided to allow, for a short time longer, US airplanes to fly into Mexican airspace and the country if they still have the old 121.5 ELT installed. The country of Mexico still switched to the new rule of allowing only 406MHz emergency locator transmitters on aircraft that are registered in Mexico. If a USA registered airplane flys into Mexico, it will still be allowed for the time being.
Mexico realizes the vast amount of airplanes that fly in and out of Mexico rm the united states. The US has not mandated the use of 406MHz ELTs so if Mexico were to ban all aircraft that do not have them it would severely impact the revenue from US airplanes. The restriction on the old 121.5 MHz emergency locator transmitters will eventually be upheld by Mexico, but for now it is still legal to fly into Mexico with an old one.
Two hikers in the Sierra Nevada Mountains were stranded when very bad weather moved in from an unforecasted early winter storm. Packed only for relatively mild conditions they were forced to seek shelter in a tent designed for mild weather. The storm produced over a foot of snow overnight making the trek several miles out of the mountains impossible with the gear they had available. With no other options, they activated their ACR SARLink personal locator beacon. Rescue services were immediately notified and a rescue was in operation shortly. One more save attributed to the personal locator beacon.
Amateur Pilots Should Stay Prepared
Like most amateur pilots, I got started with my hobby after being fascinated with the idea of flight. As a child I dreamed of soaring through the air, bursting through clouds and racing birds. I’ve stuck with flying planes mostly because of the sense of camaraderie among small aircraft pilots. Every so often, wanderlust gets the best of me and I begin charting a course across the country.
My plane is so small that it needs to be refueled every few hours, and landing to gas up at various small airfields gives me a chance to meet new people. Even more so than a commercial jet pilot, I must remain alert at all times and prepared in case anything goes wrong in the mechanical department. I keep a few aircraft survival kits on hand in case of the worst.
Outdoorsman Uses an ACR Microfix PLB for Rescue
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL — During the summer in northern Alaska, the sun is visible for 24 hours. Never-ending daylight means the region’s Inupiat Eskimos, who depend on subsistence for survival, are out hunting and gathering food at all hours. The Alaska North Slope Borough Search and Rescue (SAR) division maintains 24-hour readiness to assist those who end up in dangerous situations in an unforgiving environment.
A case in point was a rescue on July 31 when the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center was alerted around midnight to a 406 MHz distress signal from an ACR Microfix 406 GPS Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) 12 miles southeast of Atqasuk, Alaska. With knowledge of the victim’s identity and location, the North Slope Borough SAR Department, based in Barrow, AK, immediately launched a helicopter with a medical team to the remote area.
It was a textbook rescue. With the PLB signal, we went straight to him and rendered medical care,” the pilots said. “Without the beacon, his friends probably would have driven him to the village to get aid. At 2 to 4 miles per hour, it would’ve taken them five hours to get there.”
PLBs are proving to be valuable emergency life-saving devices for outdoor activities of all kinds. Since PLBs were given FCC approval in July 2003 for sale and use in all 50 states, there have been 251 lives saved in the U.S., according to NOAA. Alaska led the states with 161 total rescues. In 2008, 68 people in 35 incidents used PLBs to signal for help in the U.S.
Cedar City, UT - A Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) has again played a significant role in the location and rescue of an outdoors enthusiast-this time a novice woman climber near the Brian Head ski-resort in Southern Utah.
The rescued party was a 47-year-old New Jersey woman, who fell and sustained serious head injuries while hiking and climbing with her family on June 3rd. Her brother, an experienced climber and a local physician from St. George, Utah, was carrying a SARLink 406 GPS Personal Locator Beacon, which, when activated, put into motion a Search and Rescue (SAR) operation that eventually led to her being evacuated by helicopter.
PLB rescues on land have only become available since a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) waiver ruling went into effect July 2003 approving the sale and use of PLBs for land use in the United States.