SAR & ALERTING 7

EMERGENCY DISTRESS BEACONS

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3 TYPES OF DISTRESS BEACONS
• ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitter) –
for Aviation use
• EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio
Beacon) - for Maritime use

• PLB (Personal Locator Beacon) - for Land

based use
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Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT)
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• ELTs were the first emergency beacons
developed and most aircraft are required to
carry them

• ELTs were intended for use on the 121.5 MHz

to alert aircraft flying overhead, but the
limitations was that it needs another acft to
be in range (overhead) to receive the signal
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• COSPAS-SARSAT system was developed to

provide a better receiving source for these
signals

• And provide location data for each activation

(which overflying acft were unable to do)
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2 TYPES OF EMERGENCY FREQUENCY

• 121.5 MHz (older generation)

• 406 MHz (new generation)

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121.5 MHz – (old generation)
• 97% false alarm rate
• activate properly in ONLY 12% crashes
• no identification data
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406 MHz – (new generation)
• Work specifically with the COSPAS/SARSAT
system
• greatly reduce false alarm activation
• higher accident survivability rate
• decrease the time required to locate and
reach accident site due to satellite assistance
in location
• Identifies the specific beacon which
corresponds to a specific aircraft
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• Most aircraft operators are mandated to carry
ELT, either on freq 121.5 OR 406 MHz

• Due to the advantage of 406 MHz beacon,

aviation authorities are phasing out the 121.5
MHz beacon but the cost is the main factor

406 MHz cost $1,500

121.5 MHz cost $500
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Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon
(EPIRB)
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• EPIRBS are used for maritime vessels and
operate on 121.5 MHz (transmits analog
signal) and 406 MHz (transmits digital
“homing” power signal).

• 406 MH signals can be detected by geostationary

satellite with 121.5 MHz signals to be detected by
a direction finding equipment

• 121.5 MHz EPIRB are now being phased out

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PERSONAL LOCATOR BEACONS (PLBs)
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PERSONAL LOCATOR BEACONS (PLBs)
• PLBs are portable units that operates much
the same way as ELTs and EPIRBs

• Designed to be carried by an individual

person
instead of on an aircraft or boat
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PERSONAL LOCATOR BEACONS (PLBs)
• Can only be activated manually and operate
exclusively on 406 MHz and have a low-power
“ homing” beacon that transmits on 121.5
MHZ once the satellite system have locked
onto it
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• Some newer PLBs have GPS units integrated
into the distress signal which increases the
accuracy of the distress signal location.
(Has an accuracy of within 2-3 miles)

• In the USA, PLBs are now authorised for

nationwide use.
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COSPAS – SARSAT
• Cospas-Sarsat is an international satellite-
based search and rescue (SAR) Distress alert
detection and information distribution
system, established by Canada, France,
United States and the former Soviet Union in
1979
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• COSPAS – an acronym for a Russian word
which translates to “ Space System for the
Search of Vessels in Distress”

• SARSAT – Search and Rescue Satellite

Aided Tracking
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COSPAS – SARSAT
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• Started operational use in 1982, successfully
located an aircraft crash in Canada, 3 people
were rescued.

• Since then, it has been used for thousands of

SAR events and had been instrumental in the
rescue of over 24,000 lives worldwide
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How It Works
• satellite receives the signal transmitted from
ELTs, EPIRBs and PLBs
• instruments on board satellites in
geostationary and low altitude Earth orbits
detects and locate the signal source
• satellite downlinks signal to the ground receiving
stations (Local User Terminal) which receives
and
process the signal to generate distress alerts
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• Mission Control Centers (MCC) receives the alerts
from the LUT and forward them to relevant RCC for
SAR operations
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LEOSAR System – satellites in low-altitude

Earth orbit (LEO)

GEOSAR System – satellites in geostationary

Earth orbit
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