Simple Tip for our new ELT Locating Problem

By: Lt Col Charles Bendixen
Emergency Services Officer, Squadron 201

When satellites monitored for 121.5 Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) we bemoaned the fact that their accuracy was no better than about +/- 10 miles in any direction. Now that the 121.5 ELT’s are no longer monitored by satellite, we must depend on the signals being picked up by passing aircraft. If that aircraft is an airliner at 20,000+ feet, it means that the ELT might be anywhere with 50-75 miles. I have a simple hint which may help in locating an ELT under those conditions, but first two examples from my experience.

On 15 Feb 2009 our aircrew from Squadron 201 was tasked with locating an ELT reported by an aircraft over the Tuba City Airport. When no ELT was heard at 11,000 feet over Tuba City, we were then notified that an aircraft near Winslow, Arizona had heard and ELT and CAP Flight 237 was directed to fly to Winslow. Before reaching Winslow, we were directed to fly towards “Northeastern AZ” where another aircraft had heard an ELT. After climbing to 12,500 ft. and heading NE, we eventually picked up an ELT when about 25 miles from Chinle. The active ELT was eventually found in an Air Evac. King Air on the Chinle over 88 miles from the initial ELT report.

My second example occurred on 30 June 2010 when we were notified of an ELT reported over Page, Arizona by an aircraft at 23,000 feet. As we were about 30 miles from PGA I made a call on 122.8 (Unicom) asking if aircraft in the area of PGA would tune in 121.5 and report to me if they heard an ELT. The first response was from and aircraft landing at PGA that none was heard. Shortly thereafter, another response came from an aircraft which was south of Brice Canyon Airport and was hearing a “strong” ELT signal. We were then able to head directly towards Brice Canyon some 85 Nautical Miles (NM) from our current location. Eventually we picked up the ELT and tracked it to the Deer Spring Airport which is a private airport about 20 miles south of Brice Canyon, with a single Cessna 182 sitting on the field, over which our ELT search centered.

I am convinced that by using a simple call on a Unicom frequency, I was able to enlist ELT listening help over a very wide area, which re-directed our search to a localized area. Without this assistance, we would not have located the ELT, which, because of rugged surrounding terrain, could not be heard from more than 15 miles at 10,500 feet.

Moral: A simple call for assistance may help locate an ELT.