Mayday call last night
 

Anyone have any info on a mayday call last night? I was over central NSW and heard some of the relay, it seemed as though someone was in trouble over the Southern Bass Strait and a QF aircraft was acting as a relay.

Yes we heard part of a call last night from someone who'd had an engine failure at 5500' heading to King Island. They gave lat & long position and there was a QF aircraft helping ATC with it. Didn't sound good but we landed before hearing anything else and I've heard absolutely nothing since. Very strange that there has been nothing reported. I woke up this morning expecting to hear the worst. Hopefully they sorted their problem before coming to grief, but based on the calls last night it sounded pretty dire http://cdn.pprune.org/images/smilies/sowee.gif

Yep... was on the atis... crew advised to watch for lights on the tower in case of any suspicious transmissions... can't believe this kinda stuff is happening.

Also heard part of the relays RE the mayday call... first thing I thought was that it was a fake one like a few months ago... but sounds like not...

I've also noticed a sharp increase in muppets deliberately winding people up on 121.5. I seriously worry if they're pilots.

Passenger plane forced to abort landing after receiving hoax radio call at Melbourne
 

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has launched an investigation after someone made hoax calls to pilots, causing a passenger flight to abort landing as it approached Melbourne Airport.

The incident occurred shortly after 5:00pm on October 27, when Virgin Australia flight 740, en route from the Gold Coast to Melbourne, changed its altitude and course under the instruction of the unauthorised person transmitting from an unknown location.

Key points:

The passenger plane was about 80 metres from the runway when it pulled up
Police are yet to make any arrests in relation to the hoax calls
The ABC understands the person was able to communicate with planes and control towers
The incident occurred shortly after 5:00pm on October 27, when Virgin Australia flight 740, en route from the Gold Coast to Melbourne, changed its altitude and course under the instruction of the unauthorised person transmitting from an unknown location.

Passenger plane forced to abort landing after receiving hoax radio call at Melbourne Airport - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

From ABC
thread that was all ready posted.

Hope he is caught soon.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-0...-plane/7995502

According to the Australian Tax Office and their new voice identity system, there are about 2000 unique identifiers to the human voice, which is much more than can be found in an eye-scan, and the system still works through a telephone handset.

I think this muppet's days are well and truly numbered. Looking forward to the announcement that he's been nabbed.

I've little doubt, if he is caught - seeing as most jails are currently at maximum accommodation levels - he'll avoid any jail term, be given a severe flogging with a wet lettuce, and made to write out, 100 times on the blackboard - "I promise not to play with radios, not to call out hoax Maydays, and not to imitate ATC's, ever again". :rolleyes:

<<There has been someone mucking around with a handheld at Melbourne for a while now>>

Happened quite a lot some years ago in the UK. I got caught out with a nasty incident when someone came on my frequency and dished out a few headings. One possible answer is for ATC to say "XXX I see you at/passing xx altitude, turn left...." which would prove the call came rom ATC.

Probably not advisable to discuss/reveal such countermeasures here, especially with the availability of FR24 etc.

Everyone in the system needs to tread very carefully and quietly about this.

Every layperson with whom I've discussed this situation has been completely flabbergasted when I've explained the sources of tower and other ATC frequency information and equipment that can transmit on those frequencies. It's easy to envisage a fear-driven knee-jerk reaction that makes the system much more complicated for everyone.

Let's hope they catch and flog this muppet soon.

Melbourne fake ATC affecting flights
 

Just wait until they start playing with the ADSB...

This is why in the US, the mandate is not for ADSB, but ADSB-2, which has some security built in.

This has happened before. Unfortunately hand held VHF transceivers are quite easy to obtain in some countries. And there are always idiots around!

Anybody can pretty much get that information in real time with various phone apps. (Flight radar etc)

CPDLC only :)

we have had CPDLC and ACARS messages that have been spam/faked.

BBC picked this up too
 

Hoax broadcasts made to passenger planes in Melbourne
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-37905981

The words '4500' in the audio clip are a bit of a give-away.

Look for the hotted up Monaro parked next to the ice cream truck under 16 at YMML and you'll have your guy..

I shoulda been in the FBI..

I hope this muppet gets the book thrown at him.

Have you reported this suspected muppet to the AFP?

Big difference here is Avalon was involved. A CTAF airport for half the day, Jetstar has 4 movements within CTAF frequency (most during darkness). Avalon is pretty busy after hours with the flight schools in Ballarat and Moorabbin using it for circuit training so a few odd calls wouldn't probably raise alarms.....

Fake calls, bad weather, late night, CTAF.......yeah no thanks. Hope they find them.

How the heck did they find this chap?

I thought these kinds of things are like finding needles in haystacks.

How did they find him ?

He probably incriminated himself on social media.We'll know soon enough.

"I thought these kinds of things are like finding needles in haystacks."


Triangles will help, Who heard will give a idea of range of transmitter (it seems powerful from scant reports).

A general location you can home in fast, you would not even know if your FDR info was passed on.

He has been caught, charged, faced court, named and shamed. Young man with deperession and Autism charged with 16 offences at melb and avalon, be on the news tonight.

Australian Federal Police has arrested a 19-year-old Victorian man alleged to be behind unauthorised radio transmissions with aircraft and air traffic controllers at Melbourne and Avalon airports.

The man, who was due to face Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday, has been charged with four counts of endangering the safety of aircraft and one count of interference likely to endanger safety or cause loss or damage.

The charges relate to 16 separate unauthorised radio transmissions at Melbourne and Avalon airports between September 5 and November 3, the AFP said in a statement on Tuesday.
AFP head of crime operations, acting Assistant Commissioner Chris Sheehan, thanked Airservices, the Australian Communications Media Authority (ACMA), Qantas and Virgin Australia for their assistance as part of the investigation.

“The current security measures in place for the airline industry are robust, and the traveling public should be reassured we are treating this matter appropriately,” Sheehan said in a statement on Tuesday.

“These incidents were thoroughly investigated by the AFP with the technical support of Airservices and the ACMA.

“The offences this 19-year-old man faces carry a maximum penalty of up to 20 years imprisonment.”

Airservices Southern operations manager Steven Clarke reassured the public there was no current threat to safety.

“Airservices has appropriate procedures, processes and systems in place to ensure the safety of aviation operations at Melbourne and Avalon airports, and across the country and for the travelling public,” Clarke said.

In the audio of one incident obtained by the ABC, someone pretending to be a pilot can be heard telling air traffic control his aircraft has suffered an engine failure.

Another incident involved a flight from Gold Coast to Melbourne where pilots of the aircraft aborted their landing after receiving instructions from someone pretending to be air traffic control.

Man arrested over bogus radio calls at Melbourne and Avalon airports | Australian Aviation

Finally nabbed, well done.

Innocent until proven guilty.

Yes in the modern variant of the Orwellian state, trial by media and assertions by police are deemed sufficient. Forget a court of law!

With the AFP and Air services working in unison to assure the traveling public, one's mind pictures a monkey and symbols.

My 'detective' work was simply a guess at the Cragieburn accent. I was wrong - he was from Rockbank - the next suburb over....

They're already playing the mental health card - guess that ends his career as a pilot.

H-A,
Did he really think he had one in the first place?
I somehow doubt it.

Great news that he's been caught.:D

Well, that is what he lawyer stated...

"but is not on any medication."

No meds, so no Medical Doctor determination.... Lawyer made the diagnosis?