Bob, Not quite clear whether your PLB had GPS included. David
On 2017-11-03 08:41, Bob Hitchcock wrote:
> Hi Duncan
>
> Good question. My splash in the North Sea was more than a year ago now. I am
delighted to say I have flown a further 130 hours since in Megg my new Mono
>
> To add to both your and David's earlier comments.
>
> Being under a towering object (I.e. cliff) inhibits the signal.
> HM Coastguard do have to contend with spurious and false alarm signals.
> Consequently
they do, quite reasonably, execute checks on all phone numbers that they
have recorded for the pilot as well as contacting other organisations, home
airport, nearby airport before committing resources. Inevitably this takes time.
> So whenever flying over the sea file a Flight Plan and have appropriate
> survival
kit ready.
>
> The latest technology GPS PLB's identify position to within a few metres.
>
> The older technology GPS PLB's less so. Sometimes many kilometres until
> further
satellite passes are possible. If your existing PLB is more than 7 years old
it is possibly worth revisiting its specification and comparing it to the latest
models.
>
> Extract from final AAIB Report on GBYSA follows;
>
> The pilot's PLB was equipped with a 406 MHz transmitter, which is detectable
by satellites of the Cospas-Sarsat Programme. In order to determine an
approximate
position of the activated beacon, more than one satellite pass was required.
> At 1036 hrs, a downlink from a satellite pass alerted the UK Aeronautical
> Rescue
Co-ordination Centre (ARCC) to the activation of the beacon. A further satellite
pass at 1056 hrs was required to resolve the beacon's location in the
approximate
area of the accident. The ARCC attempted to contact the beacon's registered
owner (the pilot) and made further enquiries, to determine the nature
of the incident and decide on the appropriate response1. At 1108 hrs, a
land-based
Coastguard rescue team was tasked to the area of the accident. This was
followed later by the deployment of RNLI lifeboats and a SAR helicopter.
> The ARCC commented that GPS-enabled PLB's will generally allow much quicker
> location
of the transmitter than those without this capability. Additionally, the
more information and, in particular, contact details that owners include when
registering a PLB, the quicker the ARCC can respond and the higher the
probability
of them deploying the correct rescue assets.
> Additional information on what happens when a PLB is activated can be found at
> www.cospas-sarsat.int/en/ [1]
>
> Regards
>
> Bob
>
> http://www.theeuropaclub.org/ [2]
Links:
------
[1] http://www.cospas-sarsat.int/en/
[2] http://www.theeuropaclub.org/
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