Acting on what you hear!!
A few years back I lived near Cambridge Airfield, and used to scan the Airwaves.
One Sat afternooon.
On selecting 121.5 I heard a Distress beacon , quite feint but audible.
I am ex RAF Radio Technician so felt I had to do something.
I ran the local plod and explained the situation, qualified my call by saying that I was maybe out of order but I felt it was important.
They agreed and said they would look into it.
A few minuites later I had a call from the main rescue centre in Scotland asking if they could listen to my Scanner over the phone to verify the situation.
They agreed it was genuine and said they would update me on the outcome.
Awhile later they called and said they had monitored the area and had located the Beacon as coming from Marshalls Airport. On further local investigation found it to be from a C-130 in a hangar,
someone had left the emergency transmitter switched to activate.
They thanked me very much and on my remarks about responding to something I had picked up while scanning said "no worries you carry on scanning with our blessing"!!!!!!!!
The reason I do have a scanner is to help me when at an Airport/Airfield
to identify in advance Aircraft which may be of interest to Photograph, giving me time to set myself up in the best position.
(I am of an age where I prefer to sit in the comfort of my car and move only when I feel it is worth it)
OPF