Originally Posted by
gulliBell
Spidertracks on a 2 minute reporting cycle would be a better option.
Indeed,
my Company uses Spidertracks on the entire fleet. It is GPS based, it has a "panic button", a watch function and an auto-message capability. The 2 minutes standard position report can be reduced down to "continuously" (10s pings) and the position may be requested by the Operations Officers by selecting the helicopter you need to track and press a button at any time. It has a flight path deviation auto alert that you may set based on your company's decisions (variation in altitude, heading and speed within a preset time frame).
I'm the Safety Manager here and I feel well more comfortable knowing that we can track every helicopter at any time and everywhere in the World. However, this doesn't change the survivability of a crash nor the possibility to rush emergency teams in poor weather conditions.
So - yes - it is a good thing to have and may be really helpful in some situations but - no - it doesn't make a real difference in any possible scenario.
Sad story, by the way.
PE