Originally Posted by
Slatye
I wonder what the cost would be to have an automated system that sends an SMS to the registered phone number five minutes before SAR expires. Same for beacon activations; just a message saying "the ELT in your plane/boat has been activated, can you please check and call us on xx-xxxx-xxxx if it's a false alarm?"
It seems like that would solve 99% of the accidental false alarms, leaving more time to concentrate on either true alarms or deliberate false alarms (can't do much about the latter).
With registered 406 beacons AMSA will call the registered owner. If no answer they will call the listed emergency contacts, which is typically family or friends, and ascertain some information from them if possible. Not only that but they have the home address and can get police around to the property to knock on the door or see if the boat is in the driveway or plane is in the hangar.
Registered beacons with contact info like this has already cut down on the number of "false" searches occurring.