[MilCom] SARSAT Satellite Monitoring 121.5/243.0 mhz Ends Today!

[Lee- KI4NEJ]

> IF a private aircraft were to crash and did not have a flight plan and or 
> VFR (radar) flight following established, it is very possible that the 
> response would not even start for 8+ hours even IF the ELT beacon was 
> working after the crash, because it is possible NO one would hear it!  (So 
> at the very least encourage your private pilot friends to file a flight plan 
> or request flight following OR for that matter IF you are a passenger in a 
> private plane, perhaps ask the pilot).

I disagree with the above paragraph. Air Carrier (US Air, Delta, etc,), 
Air Taxi (Northwest Airlink, USAir Express, etc) and Air Cargo acft are 
still mandated by Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR's) to monitor 121.5 
continuously while in flight. If a beacon is heard on 121.5, they must 
report it to ATC immediately, to include position, altitude when heard 
and signal strength. We (ATC) then turn that report over to the Rescue 
Coordination Center (RCC) which is at every Air Route Traffic Control 
Center (Miami Center, Washington Center, etc).

Although SARSAT may be gone, there will still be literally tens of 
thousands of ears monitoring 121.5 every day. I believe the only 
scenario that is accurate of the above quoted-paragraph would be flight 
over sparsely populated areas (think Steve Fossett in the desert Southwest).

Since VHF/UHF is line of sight, the higher the aircraft, the more area 
it covers.

Trust me, as an air traffic controller, I wish they would mandate a move 
to the newer beacons and move them off 121.5- even a hard landing will 
set those off, unbeknownst to the pilot in many cases.

Just my opinion from someone who deals with this stuff daily.

Lee
Tampa