Elt

[Killroy]

Hi everybody,

My question concerns ELT's and the signal they're transmitting.

When monitoring 121.5 you hear an ELT-signal, is it useful telling it to the ATCO you're working with or is he/she listening to the same signal at the same time and are therefore not to be bothered with this piece of info (especially if it's someone's big Breitling x-mitting :} )

Just curious,

discuss............:E

[Jerricho]

Here in Canada, 121.0 is monitored at all times at each controllers console, and given the proximity to a receiver, we do sometimes pick up ELTs. Terminal Control in London does not.

I find it very helpful if a pilot can tell me if the signal is getting stonger/weaker, as it can give us a very rough idea where it may be. Or you may be picking one up that we can't hear at all.

[coracle]

We often have pilots reporting ELT signals on the London TMA North-east sector as the factory is somewhere near Southend and they then to go off from time to time by accident.

Had one a few weeks back in the Brookman's Park area which seemed to go on for about a fortnight. Think it was traced to someones boat parked in their drive.

However if a pilot reports an ELT it is always passed on to the relevant people just in case.

[5milesbaby]

Report any you hear, and the controller can then decide weather or not to pursue it any further. At Swanwick we pass the details of a/c position, direction of flight and heightband that the transmission was received for onto the Distress and Diversion cell at West Drayton. They will then inform the relevent search and rescue teams if they think neccessary.

[Lon More]

At Maastricht they were reported several times weekly and I can't remember ever actually hearing one. Fortunately mostly originated from a/c on the ground or ships in harbour, though I remember one which was frequently reported over an extended period and was on a sunken fishing vessel.
It is always worth reporting it and the info - as stated by 5 miles baby - is passed on to the relevant authorities.
The SARBE and ELT signals are tracked by maritime satellite (Inmarsat?)

[Fox3snapshot]

ELT's are common in this region and reported appropriately.

The report is faxed to our military operations center and then distributed to the wordwide SAR coordination centers. Both here in UAE and over in Oman the military are responsible for both civil and military SAR services and provide the Rescue Coordintion Centers.

The most common have been ships in distress, although I have had three occassions (twice here, once in OZ) where the SAR panel??? had separated from a C130 and full alerting services were activated....thank goodness it was only a small bit of the aircraft and not the big bit that had a heavy landing! :p

[Killroy]

Ok,

Thanks for the feedback guys ('n dolls?), I understand it's best to keep reporting elt-signals to ATC and will continue to do so in the future.

Greetings,

K.