Cape Coral, Fla. -- Four members from Group Five, Florida Wing were successful in tracking and silencing an unregistered Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) that had been improperly discarded. This is a primary example of the challenges the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) faces in supporting Air Force Rescue Coordination Center’s (AFRCC) efforts and the reason it is important to get the message out, “Don’t Trash the Beacon.” CAP National Headquarters has launched a campaign aimed at the improper disposal which continues to divert valuable resources and creates an obstacle in making the satellite-aided tracking program as efficient as possible.
The experienced aircrew from the SRQ Composite Squadron, Lt. Col. Lloyd Lininger and Lt. Col. Richard Grafton, were ultimately able to narrow the beacon’s position to within 500 feet. “It was the craziest signal I have ever tracked,” said Colonel Grafton. “We were getting numerous false hits that we thought were most likely due to transmission lines and a nearby electrical sub-station, and later we found out that the antenna on the transmitter was damaged.”
The Urban Direction Finding (UDF) team still had its work cut out for them. Major Mike Griffith from the SRQ squadron and Capt. Jeff Carlson from Group 5 Headquarters started the search from the initial satellite merge provided by the Incident Commander, 1st Lt. Robert Little, before being directed by the aircrew to scout several suspected locations. Their efforts to track the signal were challenged by the water canals that are prevalent in South Florida.
The beacon was located in a trash can adjacent to a residential dwelling. When the UDF team first approached the homeowner, he was unaware of having an EPIRB on the property. He gave the team permission to search on the property. The team re-checked the triangulation and narrowed the signal to the trash bin adjacent to the house. Major Griffith explained, “We approached the homeowner a second time and asked to search the trash container, which is when he recalled that on the evening prior his father had replaced an old EPIRB with a broken antenna and discarded the old unit in the trash can.” Griffith added, “Needless to say the homeowner and his five-year-old son were both impressed and embarrassed to have a red, white and blue Cessna circling over their home, with a couple of guys in uniforms with radio equipment knocking on their door.”
The homeowner was instructed to remove the battery from the old unit and emphasis was made as to the importance of registering the new EPIRB with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS). “It definitely wasn’t a cakewalk,” said Capt. Carlson. “We had to draw upon the training we have received and the experience gained from past missions to successfully prosecute this one. Fortunately, the guys in the aircraft really knew their stuff, and Maj. Griffith did a superb job winnowing out the false signals with the L-Per. It really makes it worthwhile to have the opportunity to work with a top-notch team.” |
