Author: kevin

An exhausted but well prepared kayaker crossing the Cook Strait triggered a 406 distress beacon before his strength failed him.

His beacon activated a rescue helicopter, which spotted him via his smoke flare and hovered above him until he was pulled aboard a rescue vessel.

In addition to the 406 distress beacon, the exhausted and overwhelmed kayaker was well prepared with life jacket, VHF radio and a red smoke flare.

“Being well equipped can really take the search out of search and rescue.”

Four other vessels in the area, including a ferry, offered assistance after the 406 alert was raised.

Read more here:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/kayaker-crossing-cook-strait-saved-by-smoke-flare-sparking-rescue/A37VPEADOFWD3W2YWK5JAGQOGM/ 

A 406 EPIRB began transmitting an emergency signal from a garbage dump in Eurobodalla, Australia, that would have continued for 48 hours.

A rescue helicopter was called to the area, tying up valuable resources.

Workers at the dump had to dig through tons of trash to find the beacon carelessly discarded.

“Unwanted distress beacons should never be put into household bins.”

“Not only can they activate and waste valuable emergency resources, but the beacon batteries are also hazardous and should be disposed of in an environmentally-friendly way.”

New South Wales Maritime holds regular collection events in Eurobodalla for expired flares, where unwanted emergency beacons can also be safety disposed of free of charge.

The next collection is likely to be held in November.

If residents can’t attend a collection event, batteries should be disconnected in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions and disposed of at Council’s waste facilities for free.

Read more here:
https://www.miragenews.com/discarded-beacon-signals-rubbish-emergency-561924/ 

Please click to access the Summary of FMCC activity – April 2021

Four different search and rescue stories provide valuable lessons on how to respond in an emergency with examples using a PLB, a life jacket a coast guard call, and a towing service.

In the Cape Canaveral, Florida story, the hatch of the 20-foot center-console revealed submerged batteries, and the sailor, who had a friend and two young sons aboard, knew that he needed to act fast.

He quickly went to the helm, flipped on the bilge pumps, and tried to turn the boat to put it on plane, but it took water over the bow.

His friend rushed to the bow and grabbed life jackets for all four passengers while the boater put out a mayday call over his VHF.

A nearby boater responded, but he read back their latitude and longitude numbers and left one digit off.

“It all happened extremely fast,” the boater recalls.

“From the time we realized we were taking on water, it took maybe 10 minutes.”

Fearing the children would get trapped under the boat if it rolled, they decided to leave the vessel, grabbing the kids and a 406 PLB.

After about 15 minutes, they realized they hadn’t activated the PLB, so they finally engaged it.

Since they were in a popular fishing area, they shot off the flares in hopes nearby boats would see them.

Unfortunately, none did.

They floated for two hours, worried they might never be found.

Fortunately, the 406 PLB did what it was supposed to do—it sent an emergency call via satellite uplink on a 406 MHz frequency to the US Coast Guard with GPS coordinates of the crew.

Within two hours, they caught sight of a Coast Guard HC-144 Ocean Sentry search plane homing in on their PLB transmission, and they knew help was on the way.

“Hands-down, the PLB was our saving grace,” the boater says of his ultimate rescue by the Coast Guard.

“It’s the reason my family and friend are still here.”

Read more here (includes three more SAR stories):
https://www.boatingmag.com/story/how-to/how-to-survive-a-boating-emergency/ 

There are currently 45 videos published addressing topics including beacons, the satellite system, search and rescue, and participation in Programme meetings.

Finding the topics of interest to you has been simplified with a redesigned video and playlist page accessible both on our website here (embedding the YouTube playlists): http://www.cospas-sarsat.int/en/search-and-rescue/programme-videos-en

and organized into playlists on our YouTube page here: https://www.youtube.com/c/InternationalCospasSarsatProgramme#

All videos are available in English and also have subtitled versions in French and Russian. Some videos are available with Spanish, Arabic, Greek, and Portuguese subtitles.

Participants have found these videos to be an excellent training and public relations tool, and are freely available to all.

A letter of appreciation was recently received by the New Zealand Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) related to a successful rescue using a Cospas-Sarsat approved personal locator beacon (PLB).

 

Dear Rescue Coordination Centre,

Thank you so much for doing your part in saving my life.

On Wednesday, 28 April 2021 I crossed Dore Pass from the Eglinton Valley.

Route-finding was difficult due to recent snow and the state of the route marking.

Traversing across to the Glade House descent spur I lost the route on the northernmost set of bluffs.

Following chamois tracks, I lost my footing and slid 15 metres before self-arresting.

I was left with a single, tiny foothold on a steep slope 25 metres above major bluffs.

With no safe option to move in any direction, I set off my PLB.

An hour later a helicopter got to the area and found me.

Within 30 minutes I had been winched off the mountainside and taken to the helipad at Clinton Hut.

The pick-up felt quick, safe, efficient and very, very comforting.

For the first time in decades of backcountry tramping I really needed outside expert emergency help and that’s exactly what I got.

Thank you all at RCC for being part of the chain of LandSAR people and technology that got me home safely.

You did save my life.

I’m really grateful and impressed by how you dealt with my PLB contact person.

I am her husband.

She tells me you stayed in frequent contact with her, telling her immediately of progress and relaying the latest news from the rescue helicopter.

This was a true comfort to her and our son.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Please click to access the Summary of FMCC activity – March 2021

Today, #406Day2021, we remind people that governments around the world have come together to locate by satellite and help rescue people anywhere from life-threatening distress. And all that is needed is for a boat owner, an aircraft owner or a remote-country explorer to purchase from any of several vendors (on-line or sporting-goods stores) any of several choices of inexpensive 406-MHz “Cospas-Sarsat” distress beacons, to be able to signal their distress. Because this is a cooperative international initiative, there are no recurring service fees. Buy the beacon (make sure that it is a “406” model), keep it with you and you have the cheapest possible insurance to call for help in a life-threatening emergency.

We also take this day as an opportunity to celebrate the national search-and-rescue SAR teams all around the world that undertake dangerous rescues in response to distress alerts.

Why “406 Day”? It is the 6th day of the 4th month, April, expressed as it might be in many countries: “406”. This is a reference to the 406-megahertz radio frequency that is monitored globally for signals from distress-alert beacons by the International Cospas-Sarsat Programme, a cooperative of 45 governments and agencies that helps save an average of seven lives a day, worldwide.

Please click to access the Summary of FMCC activity – January 2021

Please click to access the Summary of FMCC activity – February 2021