Posts Tagged ‘Emergency Locator Transmitter’
Aviation safety has been a hot-button issue in recent weeks following the thwarted Christmas Day bombing. It seems like everyday new measures are being proposed to eliminate the impending threat of terrorism and plane takeovers. One of the most controversial of these tactics is utilizing new full-body scanners.
These devices would give security personnel a computerized image of a passenger via an x-ray. The image would be digitized to provide some confidentiality, but they still leave nothing to the imagination. Despite new measures designed to frustrate terrorists, there will likely be new innovations and tactics employed to circumvent any security upgrades.
Over the last few days there has been a concerted effort in Oregon to find a group of three hikers that has gone missing on Mount Hood. The hikers did not have an ACR personal locator beacon or other device to alert rescue teams to their whereabouts. Adverse weather conditions have severely limited the amount of rescue workers and aid that has been accessible to the area, with a whiteout completely eliminating the search efforts on Tuesday.
Searchers found the body of one of the climbers at an elevation of 9,000 feet. The preliminary autopsy showed that he had fallen and incurred minor injuries before hypothermia set in. As the weather worsens and rescue attempts become for restricted, the prospects of findings the two remaining hikers is dwindling.
Upgrade to Reliable Locator Technology
As a pilot, you’re probably aware that most U.S. civil aircraft are required to carry emergency beacons. In the past, planes were generally equipped with 121.5 MHz transmitters, but these have largely fallen out of use – and for good reason. In order for another aviator to pick up a distress signal from a plane in range, he would have to be listening to that particular frequency at just the right moment.
These days, satellites associated with Search and Rescue Satellite-aided Tracking are mostly responsible for picking up distress signals. Since these satellites stopped monitoring the 121.5 MHz frequency in February of this year, newer-generation emergency locator transmitters are especially critical. They operate at 406 MHz and can be picked up easily via satellite. When it’s your safety at stake, why trust old technology?