The Hindu : Front Page : ELT of YSR’s chopper not upgraded

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Wednesday, Sep 09, 2009
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ELT of YSR’s chopper not upgraded

Ravi Reddy

‘ELTs should have switched over to 406 MHz from February 1 this year’

HYDERABAD: The Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) on the ill-fated Bell-430 helicopter that flew former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy to Chittoor on September 2 was out of service.

However, the AP Aviation Corporation Limited appears to be unaware that the ELT installed on the helicopter with frequencies of 121.5 MHz and 243 MHz beacons had been globally terminated on February 1, 2009 and not upgraded to a higher frequency of 406 MHz beacons.

According to COSPAS-SARSAT, an international satellite-based search and rescue (SAR) distress alert detection and information distribution system, all ELTs should have switched over to 406 MHz from February 1 this year.

That the Bell-430 helicopter was still equipped with the old ELT was admitted by Managing Director of AP Aviation Corporation Limited, K.V. Brahmananda Reddy, in a status report released on September 2 after the chopper went missing for over 12 hours. He said the “helicopter was suitably equipped with an ELT capable of automatic transmission of frequency 121.5 Mhz and 243 MHz, which would have activated in case of any crash landing or such other unforeseen eventuality”. The IAF aircraft specifically equipped to pick up ELT frequency transmission failed to do so in the target zone.

It was way back in 2000 that COSPAS-SARSAT Council, supported by the United States, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and International Maritime Organisation had unanimously decided on terminating the 121.5 MHz from February 1, 2009.

The Handbook of Regulations on 406 MHz and 121.5 MHz beacons issued in August last year wanted Indian aviation industry to switch over to upgraded ELTs. The 406 MHz beacons with satellite technology are cost-effective and provide instant and accurate location of distress whereas the old 121.5 MHz is ground station-dependent and has a smaller coverage area.

ELTs, which are mounted inside the baggage compartment, are self-contained, battery powered units attached to an external fuselage mounted antenna.

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