English version below. Spanish-language article here: FACh se une a sistema que permite localizar al instante barcos o aviones en emergencia
Article photos: http://impresa.elmercurio.com/MerMobileIphone//Pages/NewsDetailMobile.aspx?dt=2017-04-24&BodyId=3&PaginaID=1&SupplementId=0
FACh joins a system that allows to instantly locate ships or aircraft in emergency
Posted on April 24th, 2017
Chilean Air Force (FACh), specializing in this type of situation, will join a new procedure that works with medium-orbit satellites, more responsive to alerts.
(El Mercurio) Passengers on a crashed plane have a 60% chance of surviving if the rescue takes place within the first eight hours; Explains Colonel Aviation Eleazar Bravo, head of the Department of Planning and Development of the Air Search and Rescue Service of the FACh (SAR).
Every minute is key. For this reason, Chile has decided to join a new system, which operates with 75 satellites to locate emergency signals emitted by beacons located, for example, in airplanes and ships.
The big difference with the current method is that today the FACh receives information captured by five satellites of low polar orbit (Leosar) and one geostationary (Geosar).
The data of these arrive at the antennas installed in Punta Arenas (Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica region), Easter Island (administratively belongs to the region of Valparaíso) and Cerrillos (Metropolitan region). The estimated time in which the location of a damaged ship can be captured is between 5 and 8 minutes.
Greater Accuracy
The new system, called MEOSAR, works with a network of medium-orbit satellites that are able to capture the location of a beacon almost immediately and with greater precision, obtaining the exact point of an accident or the area where an aircraft was lost .
This improvement, which will cost US $ 5 million and will be operational in 2019, will allow the Chile Mission Control Center – 24 hours a day at Cerrillos Air Base – to give notice of the situation more quickly, obtaining valuable minutes to respond to a potential emergency.
Functioning
To fly with the appropriate authorization, all aircraft, whether private or commercial, must have a small device called the Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT). During the flight it goes off, but if an impact is registered or the pilot decides to activate it, it emits signals that are captured by the satellites, and that allow the Air Search and Rescue Service to take action.
However, the ELT also has its limitations: it can not emit signals if it is submerged in water, and if the impact is too strong, it can be destroyed.
Another thing that can happen with the current satellites that inform Chile is that the signal that reaches to send the device is too short to be collected. MEOSAR, on the other hand, will be able to capture even these alerts of minimum duration, thus allowing to warn of a greater number of accidents and emergencies.
138 is the number that can be called in Chile to give notice to the FACh in the event of any air emergency.