Mission Report
Mission #06M2084
February 24, 2006
ELT Search
Submitted by Capt. Kim Kirschman

At about 1900 local time on Friday, February 24, I received a call from Col Ralph Tomlinson, Iowa Wing Commander, requesting that I initiate an emergency locator beacon (ELT) search in the vicinity of Des Moines, Iowa.  Lt Don Wood (observer) and Lt Rob MacDougall (scanner) rounded out the crew.  9327E, an Iowa Wing Cessna 182, was at the Ankeny airport at the time, so that is the aircraft we used.  Following the usual weather briefing and aircraft preflight inspection, we logged an engine start time of approximately 2000.  When we tuned the direction finding (DF) radio in the plane to the usual emergency frequency of 121.5, we immediately received a strong ELT signal.  Since we were still on the ground, and in fact parked directly in front of 27E's hangar, the strong signal indicated the ELT was probably located on the Ankeny airport.  Since the aircraft was not equipped with a DF radio intended for handheld ground use, we used the DF radio in the plane by taxiing and watching the indications shown by the radio.  It took only a few minutes to determine the ELT was probably located in a hangar very near our own hangar, so we re-hangared 27E, called mission staff to report our findings, and began a hangar-to-hangar search with the assistance of staff from Exec 1 while waiting for the arrival of properly equipped ground teams.  Using a borrowed, inexpensive airband portable radio, we discovered the offending ELT 'two doors down' in our own hangar complex.  The ELT was easily deactivated via a switch on the aircraft's instrument panel, after which we simply waited for the ground team to arrive so they could process the necessary paperwork.

Notes:

1.  Satellite hits as recorded by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC) gave the most probable location of the ELT as the Camp Dodge and Morningstar airport areas;
2.  Ground teams had been sent to the Des Moines airport, the Des Moines area hospitals, and the Morningstar airport; 
3.  Flying conditions were good;
4.  The lack of suitable DF equipment for ground use by the aircrew was again a delaying factor;
5.  Total aircrew time from initial notification until leaving for home: approximately two hours;
6.  Total aircraft time to bill to the Air Force: 6 minutes.
7.  Lessons learned:
        a.  Portable DF equipment to be used by aircrew is still on the "needed" list;
        b.  Radio communication with mission staff while the aircraft is on the ground may not be possible, in which case cell phone use is the most viable alternative.