Sat, Mar 14, 2009
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...
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