Discarded Beacon Found In A Pile Of Rubbish

The Wellington, New Zealand-based Westpac Rescue Helicopter crew sent ANN a cautionary tale this week, concerning the perils of not properly disposing of old 121.5 MHz emergency locator beacons. From the note sent Thursday afternoon:

Rescue Co-ordination Centre NZ (RCCNZ) tasked the helicopter to search for the source of the old 121.5 beacon just after 4 pm. The old 121.5 beacons are no longer picked up by satellites circling the earth, but planes flying into and out of Wellington were hearing the beacon quite strongly.

The helicopter team tracked the signal to the Wainuiomata tip. The helicopter landed and then using a hand held radio have narrowed the area where the beacon is located to a few square metre area.

"Unfortunately the beacon is buried beneath the rubbish so RCCNZ will not be able to get the beacon switched off until workers at the tip are able to get in there with a digger" says Dave Greenberg, Westpac Rescue Helicopter crewman. "This should serve as a good reminder to people that when they dispose of their old 121.5 beacons they need to ensure the battery is removed, or the beacon is taken to a local police station where the beacon can then be sent away for proper disposal."

As ANN reported, the US Civil Air Patrol and US Air Force advised pilots and boaters last month on how to properly dispose of their old ELTs, when swapping to the new 406 MHz devices. It's a worthwhile read... precisely so it won't be YOUR old beacon that, in the worst case scenario, may pull a rescue crew away from a true emergency, for a false alarm.

A cautionary tale, indeed...

FMI: www.rescuehelicopter.com.au/, www.acc.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=3723