Mission Report
Mission #07M1910
October 15, 2007
Webster City ELT
Submitted by Capt Kim Kirschman
I received a call at about 2320 requesting that I assemble a crew for an ELT search. Lt Tony Short responded to my call. We departed IKV at 0009 and headed for the assigned search area around Webster City (the AFRCC plots were N42 27.4 W93 51.4 and N42 27.6 and W93 56.3). Information given to us indicated the ELT was transmitting on 243mhz. Radio contact was made with the ground team, Iowa CAP 606, consisting of Capt Roger Elliott and Leif Poore-Christianson, at 0016.
When about 10 miles SE of the Webster City airport (EBS) we tuned a comm radio to 121.5 'just in case', as the DF radio was tuned to 243. We immediately heard an ELT signal. We reset the DF radio to 121.5, but no signal was audible. Using the wing null method, we determined the ELT was approximately north of our location, so we continued flying toward EBS. Within a minute or two the DF radio began to indicate the signal was ahead of us, in the general direction of EBS. As we passed over the airport the df needle made a number of full-scale deflections, so we flew a right-hand circle around the airport and noted the needle maintained a full-scale deflection to the right the entire time, fairly well verifying that the ELT was on or very near the airport. We landed, taxiied to the ramp area, and determined with some degree of certainty which hangar housed the offending transmitter.
The hangar was unlocked, so when the ground team arrived with a handheld DF unit we quickly tracked the signal to a specific aircraft. A call to the airport manager netted us the name of the aircraft owner. A call to that person resulted in a connection with an answering machine, but within about 30 minutes the individual returned our call and agreed to come to the airport. He attempted to disable the ELT by using the panel-mounted arming switch, but that action had no effect. He then directly accessed the ELT, which was located far aft in the fuselage. The switch mounted on the radio also had no effect, so he disconneted the antenna lead plus various wires and removed the ELT from the plane. Even that did not disable the unit, so he removed the batteries, finally killing the signal at 0154. As an ironic twist, the maintenance facility had replaced the battery earlier in the day as part of the aircraft's anuual inspection. That apparently had a negative effect on the ELT. Also, the shop apparently did not tune a receiver to 121.5 to determine whether the ELT was properly functioning. At any rate, the required information was taken and we left for home, landing at Ankeny at 0242.
Points to note:
1. FBO personnel and aircraft owners can be difficult to reach in the wee hours of the morning;
2. Night flying can add challenges, especially in rural areas. Low scattered cloud was not visible until we would fly into it and briefly lose ground contact.
3. An intermittent intercom glitch made crew communications problematic, and a problem with the DF radio volume control made tracking the ELT signal a hit-or-miss propisition.
4. The aircraft owner was helpful when we finally made contact.Mission Number: 07M1910
Date: 15 Oct 07
Mission Description:
ELT broadcasting on 243 MHz.
Two hits: (1) W4227.4, N9351.4 W4227.6, N9356.3
UDF Team: Roger Elliott, Capt. GTL, Leif Poore-Christianson
LOG: (Time given in CDT)
1157L Depart Ames headed North on Dayton Ave from Quartermaster
1158L Turned East on 13th St.
1159L Turned North on I-35
0016L Radio contact by CapFlight 1376. Approximately 9 minutes north of Ankeny.
0030L Westbound on State Highway 20
0032L Phone call by IC. AF reported negative 2 hits.
0042L Picked up ELT signal approximately 1 mile NE of Webster City Airport.
0444L Attempted to contact CapFlight via radio. No Response.
0445L Phone contact with IC. CapFlight in ground at Webster City Airport and they have the signal.
0046L Southbound on County Road R21.
0046L Phone contact with CapFlight. They have a strong signal and think they have the hangar.
0047L Eastbound on 240th Ave.
0048L Arrived at airport.
0101L Identified offending aircraft in hangar. Plane is locked. Tail Number is XXXXXX.
0110L Contacted FBO to obtain plane owner’s name.
Plane owned by XXXXXXXXXXXX
0114L Called owner but got answering machine.
0120L Contacted IC who contacted local law enforcement to see if they could locate owner.
0134L Contacted by owner of plane. Said he would be right out.
0154L ELT silenced.
Brand: Communications Component Corp.
Model: CIR-11-2
S/N: 28142
Battery was installed on 15 Oct 07. Expiration date: 10/2010
GPS Coordinates: N4226.906, W9351.284
0210L Called IC with information.
0215L Eastbound on 240th Ave.
0216L Northbound on Country R27
0217L Eastbound on Ohio St.
0220L Southbound on Superior St.
0223L Eastbound on Hwy 20
0233L Southbound on I-35
0257L Took exit 113 off of I-35 onto 13th St. in Ames.
0258L Stop at Kum & Go for fuel.
10.082 Gal. $26.00
0301L Southbound on Dayton Road.
0305L Arrive at Quartermaster.
0307L Contacted by IC and reported that we were at Quartermaster.
0308L Log closed.