Aircraft Missing en-route to Mildura

[Ovation]

Just heard on CH7 news an aircraft is overdue/missing en-route to YMIA.

UPDATE:

From News Ltd.

POLICE and aviation rescuers are searching for a man who hasn't been seen since he took off from an airfield in New South Wales's far south west yesterday morning.
Police have been told the 79-year-old left in a single-engine Cessna from Wentworth, about 30km north-west of Mildura, 10am yesterday.

Shortly before 3pm police were alerted when he failed to return.

A search was initiated and continued today involving several local pilots who volunteered to look for the missing man.

Checks have showed the aircraft has not refuelled at any of the airfields within the estimated fight range.

The man is from Mildura, in Victoria.


Read more: Elderly pilot missing near Mildura | News.com.au

[falconx]

EN based dornier is overhead, AD rescue 51 is enroute, CB based conquests en route, a lot of effort for an a/c overdue more than 38 hours ago

[Ex FSO GRIFFO]

I know what it is that you say Mr F, but imagine IF the pilot was simply trapped in a wreck, and waiting....waiting....waiting.

Hope its all good news.....

[VH-XXX]

If you were in that situation a hundred aircraft looking for you wouldn't be enough!

A hell of a lot of ground to cover unfortunately unless they have some hard data on a last known fix. May the result be a good one.

[Jabawocky]

A plan in the system would help.

Perhaps even a good network of VHF receivers and an onboard transmitter with ID, LAT LONG and all the other stuff............ I would reckon that should have been around for a while now.... Would not be all that expensive either when one is faced with a long wait for help.

Just sayin!

[Ex FSO GRIFFO]

Gee Jab, the guy was only going from Wentworth to YMIA,....actually 13nm direct....that's like around the training area for some of us....but an EPIRB would assist greatly..(?)
Unless.....

And, yes, I do agree that every pilot should tell someone where / when they are going....'SAR with 'Mum' is good.

Cheers, and still hoping.....

[Jabawocky]

Gooday Griffo.

Yes a Plan in the system for a 13nm trip is a bit silly but advising someone of your local jolly plans is not a bad idea, and even so, the argument could be said that a local jolly might not warrant that either.

However a suitable airborne enabled, navigation system based, transmitter maybe of the 1090ES type would certainly make it pretty easy to find you. But of course many folk get all upset at the idea of GA having to equip, big brother watching you and all that crap.

Right now is a pretty good case for having such a feature, and a suitable coverage from ASA would help. I think you know what I mean

[Kulwin Park]

I wonder if it's EP? Only just saw him a few months ago up that way... Hope all ends well

[OZBUSDRIVER]

Agree 110%, Jaba. Without incurring the wrath of learned members, I will just say that even for this short trip a suitably equipped aircraft and properly rolled out ground station system would be a life saver ,and in this case, a saver of a couple of million in SAR aircraft use age.

Hope there is a good outcome.

[Old Akro]

You can just about see Mildura from the Wentworth circuit. The direct route goes over Wentworth and most of it is over moderately intensive farming land. There's only about a 5nm stretch where you wouldn't be seen by someone on the ground. I think something unpredictable has happened.

[VH-XXX]

He wasn't actually flying from Wentworth to Mildura, he is from Mildura, conceivably with hangar at Wentworth.

It’s believed the man told friends that he intended going on just an afternoon flight on Monday.

[Flying Binghi]

.

via OZBUSDRIVER;
I will just say that even for this short trip a suitably equipped aircraft and...

"Suitably equiped aircraft"... Aircraft mounted ELTs (EPIRB) have been around fer years.

Perhaps Jabawocky and OZBUSDRIVER can tell us what brand of ELT they have fitted to their aircraft ?





.

[Ex FSO GRIFFO]

Hi Jab, and Oz,

Just to take this a little further.....with all due respect.....

Re -"and a suitable coverage from ASA would help."

NO ATS Unit has the capability to monitor 121.5 or any other 'distress freq'.
(Unless things have changed since F.S.......O.K. - I'll leave that sentence there....

[SIZE="2"]Imagine the VHF range of an aircraft on the ground, or in close proximity to the ground, at a 'reasonable' distance of say 30nm.
Nil signal to the ATS ground based antenna.
Sometimes we could be lucky and have a Mt Canobolas near Orange NSW, or similar nearby, but not many of those around OZ.

As an FSO, the ONLY time I ever had the facility to monitor 121.5, was during an exercise out of Derby when we were given a 'Bayside' portable VHF for the duration of the exercise, and would you believe it...yes - I actually used it to contact a 'high-flier' on ATC freqs to relay to an 'overdue' low level aircraft. Magic.

EPIRB is the answer I would say.
Unless.....

Cheers

[LeadSled]

"Suitably equiped aircraft"... Aircraft mounted ELTs (EPIRB) have been around fer years.

Folks,
And they are a complete waste of money, with a better than 90% failure rate in practice, in real world bingles as was demonstrated in studies that resulted in the current regulations allowing portable ELTs.

The effectiveness and cost/benefit studies that resulted in the current regulations were confirmed in the post implementation review, required by the legislation, and carried out by CASA.

Nothing has changed since then!!

Likewise, the proposition that we have some form of "ADS-B for all" completely fails even the most generousness (biased in favour) studies of the cost of having low level coverage of ADS-B of sufficient geographical magnitude to cover most of Australia.

I can't remember the numbers now, but the Airservice study to provide ADS-B coverage to 5000' AMSL was something like 350 stations, about ten time the present planned coverage. There isn't even enough planned satellite capacity planned to handle a fraction of that number of ground stations, let alone all the other costs involved.

Aviation in Australia is already drowning in a red tape sea of regulatory costs, please don't advocate more.

Tootle pip!!

[Frank Arouet]

Notwithstanding all the "advice", and without trying to prejudice the actual facts as they emerge, and the fact the pilot was 79 years of age would suggest to me he may have fell through some of the medical cracks. Possibly as a result of a stress ECG performed days before?

Some questions should be directed to the CAA perhaps?

[Jabawocky]

Griffo, I think you missed the subtle suggestion that if ASA had a few more ground stations and aircraft were equipped with ADSB out, ATC would be able to point the rescue teams very quickly to the last known position,

And maybe the Buzzbumbers dumb question is answered there too. ADSB makes a really good suppliment to a GPS based EPIRB.

And yes Buzzbomber, I do have both.

[Hailstop3]

And they are a complete waste of money, with a better than 90% failure rate in practice, in real world bingles as was demonstrated in studies that resulted in the current regulations allowing portable ELTs.

I would have to disagree completely here. Maybe 'studies' have been shown to have only a 10% success rate of activation of the ELT, but I know I would want that 10% as opposed to none if the worst was to happen.

In addition to this, about 5 years ago, the property I was a pilot on in north queensland was called by AusSAR saying there was a beacon going off nearby and to check our 2 aircraft. A little while later it just so happened that the ELT was in a chopper belong to the property owner's brother in law, and the owners sister had rung us saying he was overdue. AUSSAR then gave us the coordinates of the ELT as it was a 406mhz unit. Unfortunately it had just gone dark. We found the crash after 2 hours of air to ground search with a UHF and 3 4wds. This was 5 hours after the crash, as was displayed on the analogue clock when we returned to the crash site 2 days later. The victim ended up in hospital for a month afterwards, and I would hazard a guess at saying, if that elt hadnt sent out such specific and valid GPS coordinates that we confirmed days later were spot on, and that we didn't find the site, or if the elt was not installed, and since he was in a bad way I'm sure turning a portable one on himself, if it was even near where he lay would have been difficult, once again I would say there may be one less life on this earth.

Anyway enough story telling, is there any updates on the missing plane in question?

[Frank Arouet]

I'll go so far as to suggest the ELT in the chopper wasn't "GPS enabled", if that's the term for such a device. But to put the ADSB argument into the debate is verging on the "massdebate" when one considers, say, the Benalla crash. There is nobody looking for "paints" that go missing OCTA in the GAFA especially on a 30nm flight from Wentworth to Mildura.

Talk about political mileage out of a wide circuit incident.

ADSB won't stop a medical accident and the matter shouldn't include such nonesense as ADSB for such a flight.

Parachutes next?

[FRQ Charlie Bravo]

There is nobody looking for "paints" that go missing OCTA in the GAFA especially on a 30nm flight from Wentworth to Mildura.

Frank,

Is the question not about looking for almost-real-time missing paints in the GAFA but more about being able to pull the info once an aircraft is reported missing?

FRQ CB

[LeadSled]

I would have to disagree completely here

Marcuste747,
You have, of course, confirmed that each of the units, to which you refer was a fixed ELT. For handhelds, the figures are more or less reversed, with the failure to broadcast when activated being very rare.

What other aviation "safety" device with a better than 90% failure rate would you recommend - on the off chance it worked. You are quite free to fit your aircraft with a fixed ELT if you wish, as long as you understand that it is very unlikely to aid in your rescue in the event of an accident.

There is a damned good reason why several state government actually require portable ELTs be carried on aircraft used on contract, whether they are fitted with a fixed ELT or not.

Remember, I am not quoting "my opinions", I am quoting facts --- and the facts are well and truly in, fixed ELT are a waste of money.

Indeed, the false activation rate of fixed ELTs is another major shortcoming, with the advent of every new TSO since the original C129, claims have been made about reducing the false activation rate, without noticeable result.

Tootle pip!!