CONTACT: Patricia Viets FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(301) 457-5005 10/18/95
Hurricane-hunting airplanes of the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will soon be equipped with special emergency locator transmitters, improving the crews' chance of survival in the event of downing at sea, the Commerce Department announced.
The 406 MHz emergency locator transmitters, to be installed in NOAA's WP-3D Orion aircraft used primarily for hurricane research, are vital elements in the high-tech, international search and rescue system known as COSPAS-SARSAT. The aircraft, based in MacDill Air Force Base, Tampa, Fla., are among the world's most sophisticated airborne research platforms.
The COSPAS-SARSAT search and rescue program uses NOAA environmental satellites equipped with Canadian and French search and rescue instruments; Russian satellites and instruments; and a network of ground stations to pick up distress signals from pilots, mariners and land-based users.
The 406 MHz transmitters send a precise, digitally coded signal that is unique to each transmitter. When the digital data is received, it is combined with the registration data on file with NOAA. This provides such information as aircraft type, identification, equipment on boards, and emergency contact phone numbers.
Digital coding means that information concerning a 406 transmitter activated anywhere around the globe will be received by search and rescue authorities, typically six hours sooner than with older types of transmitters.
Since the inception of the program 13 years ago, more than 4600 lives have been saved. More than 30 countries are now associated with COSPAS-SARSAT as ground station providers or user states.
The COSPAS-SARSAT program was formed as a joint effort by the United States, Canada, France and the former Soviet Union. The first satellite was launched by the Soviet Union in 1982, followed by additional Soviet and U.S. satellites. Today there are six operational U.S. and Russian satellites involved in the program.
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Note to Editors: The U.S. Mission Control Center is located in Suitland, Md., in Federal Building #4. Reporters who wish to visit the facility and/or interview the chief of SARSAT operations should contact Patricia Viets at 301-457-5005.