ELT(EPIRBs)Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons),
The COSPAS-SARSAT, is a joint international satellite search, and rescue system established in Canada, France, the former USSR, and the USA, to locate emergency radio beacons transmitting on 121.5Mhz, and 406Mhz(Within a given bandwidth). The US satellites in this system not only receive on 121.5, and 406, but on the aviation military frequency 243Mhz. By International regulation certain classes of passenger vessels, aircraft included must have them on-board, and functioning before leaving the port(Airport included). These give out a unique digitally encoded signal, which the satellites then use to triangulate location, which is fed automatically to international aviation, military, and marine search , and rescue stations for action. There are procedures for technicians to follow for false triggering, and so on. EPIRBs are built to stand the effects of weather, and catastrophic crashes, and must be able to transmit for a given period on batteries, certain EPIRBs can only be carried, and activated by a licensed radio technician, after justification, others are activated automatically based on certain conditions, and hence there are three classes A, B, and C.
A call to an US coast guard station, or other such facility on confirmation of a missing aircraft would have initiated an immediate response, after confirmation on the Russian side, and US side.
Mr. Andrew O. Ojwang(Nairobi)
Last edited by AndrewOO; 6th May 2007 at 14:56.