Personal Locator Beacons

One Could Save Your Life

by Crista V. Worthy

It can be amazingly difficult to find a lost airplane. After the Super Decathlon being flown by famous aviator Steve Fossett vanished, the largest search and rescue effort ever conducted within the U.S. failed to find him. A lone hiker discovered the crash site by chance a year later. In Idaho, on Dec. 1, 2014, a Bonanza disappeared from radar after the pilot told ATC he would attempt an emergency landing at Johnson Creek airstrip. After nearly six weeks of official and unofficial searches, a 61-year-old grandmother in Vancouver, B.C., who had studied over 10,500 satellite images of the area, pointed searchers to within 0.2 mile of the crash site, which was finally located just 1.7 miles from the north end of the strip.

If you fly over remote areas, you owe it to yourself and your family to consider what options are available to help locate you. The old 121.5 MHz Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs) are notoriously inaccurate and are no longer continuously monitored. Newer 406 MHz ELTs are better, but most pilots don’t have them and nearly 20 percent of the time they don’t even get triggered in a crash. The advantage with an ELT is you don’t have to remember to activate it before you crash (although you can). On the other hand, if it’s destroyed or the battery dies, it provides no signal that indicates where you were before it activated.

With regard to Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) and GPS Satellite Trackers, three companies produce satellite trackers so reliable the FAA has approved them for a special program in Alaska called Enhanced Special Reporting Service (eSRS). This program expedites search and rescue (SAR) for aircraft on a flight plan by allowing flight service to initiate SAR upon receipt of electronic distress messages. The companies are SPOT, Spidertracks, and DeLorme. Using one of these devices when you fly, especially in remote areas beyond cell service, could save your life if you survive an emergency or crash landing. Even if nothing goes wrong, your loved ones can have peace of mind because you can use the devices to let them know where you are and that you’re OK. 

Recently I used a DeLorme inReach SE (about $300) on a flight to Temperance Creek Ranch in Hells Canyon. At home, I pre-programmed the device with several messages like “Leaving on our trip” and “Landed Safely.” On my computer, I input emergency contacts with phone and email, and chose to whom I wanted to send messages. I also downloaded a free app to my smartphone and synced both devices via Bluetooth. I am not a computer geek, but it was not difficult to do.

Before departure, I sent our first message to five family members, along with a link to a satellite map so they could follow our trip. You can choose how often the device communicates its location. In flight, it should be at least once every 2–3 minutes. Do the math using your ground speed and you can calculate the SAR radius from the last ping. After we landed, I sent the “Landed safely” message. I even had a text conversation with my mom on my cell phone via the Bluetooth-satellite link, even though there’s no cell phone service at our location in the bottom of Hells Canyon. Whenever the device had a clear view of the sky, such as outdoors or on the aircraft’s glareshield in flight, it had a satellite link. After we got home, I looked up our flight on a satellite map on my computer. The pings were accurate to 12 feet. Close enough for a rescue? I think so. Since my experience, DeLorme has launched a new device, the inReach Explorer, which adds built-in navigation to its communication capabilities, $379. Users can view, create, or navigate routes and waypoints.

You may not be able or remember to activate the SOS button on your satellite tracker, but if the device is in tracking mode, SAR will be able to follow the “breadcrumb trail,” even if the device is destroyed in a crash. The Spidertracks S3 has an SOS button, but also the capability to send an automatic crash notification. In “Watch” mode, tracking is automatically activated when you pass through a pre-programmed speed on takeoff, and must be manually deactivated after a downward transition through that speed upon landing. If the device stops moving (which could indicate a crash), the Spidertracks will automatically start the notification of your tier one contacts (friends, family, and likely yourself) after 15 minutes, and, after another 15 minutes, escalate to tier two contacts (likely SAR services).

What system should you use when you fly? The best coverage would be a 406 MHz ELT with an additional satellite tracker. DeLorme and Spidertracks use the Iridium satellite system; SPOT uses Globalstar. Globalstar earned a reputation for poor connections several years ago, but fixed that by 2013 with new satellites. Iridium now has the older satellites, but will begin launching new ones in January 2015. The SPOT Gen3 device offers generally the same Bluetooth and other communication capabilities as the inReach SE, but costs about half as much at $150. The Spidertracks S3 is $995. Both SPOT and inReach devices can be removed from your airplane and easily carried on hikes, bike rides, etc. Spidertracks needs a 12-volt pack.

Service plans vary widely—typically between about $20 and $100 per month plus data usage. In addition to the FAA’s Alaska eSRS plan (available through www.FAA.gov), Lockheed Martin’s Adverse Condition Alerting Service (ACAS) allows pilots to opt-in online and receive in-flight alerts of adverse conditions specific to their filed flight plans via text, email, or Iridium device like DeLorme inReach, www.1800WXBrief.com.

Information is available through the manufacturers: SPOT, 408-933-4518 or 866-651-7768, www.FindMeSPOT.com; DeLorme, 207-847-1165 or 800-511-2459, www.inReachDeLorme.com; Spidertracks (made in New Zealand), 800-491-2895 or +64-6-353-3395, www.Spidertracks.com. Finally, if you do choose a satellite tracker, don’t leave it behind!