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

[Ken]

Lee & the group:

Thanks for your input Lee.

>From a practical area search aspect, this doesn't work very well with high 
flying aircraft, that easily can pickup a signal 200 miles away -- without a 
signal strength meter on the radio, it's a very subjective report.  When 
commercial aircraft are descending, generally that 2nd radio is on the 
"company" frequency coordinating other aspects.  I've also heard "rumors" 
that not all commercial airline aircraft continually monitor 121.5 mhz, BUT 
will respond if ATC asks them to check the frequency.

Aircraft at much lower altitudes have a better chance of better isolating 
the signal to a more workable search area.

I highly doubt that the USAF is going to send up many Civil Air Patrol 
search aircraft upon the initial high altitude report.  Perhaps when lower 
flying aircraft report, there will be MORE CAP aircraft in the air than 
before the satellite turnoff, and thus more cost to the taxpayer.

Ideally, those that take a bit of time on the ground to monitor 121.5 mhz, 
especially when they hear aircraft on one of their ATC frequencies reporting 
an ELT signal, might contribute to a quicker resolution.

Ken

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lee- KI4NEJ" <ki4nej at gmail.com>
To: <milcom at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Monday, February 02, 2009 4:23 AM
Subject: Re: [MilCom] SARSAT Satellite Monitoring 121.5/243.0 mhz Ends 
Today!


>
>> 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!
>
> 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).

> 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.