Distress Signal Located

This morning our wing was credited with a “find” by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center! While on a Civil Air Patrol Form 5 check-ride, pilots John Held and Jeff Geller picked up a distress signal from an ELT. They noted the time and location, and notified the flight release officer. AFRCC was then notified, but the closest distress signal they were receiving from the search and rescue (SARSAT) satellites was in New Jersey on 406 MHz. After AFRCC authorized a search and rescue mission, the aircrew located a 121.5 MHz ELT transmitting a distress signal from a hangar at Warrenton-Fauquier Airport in Northern Virginia.

Although this was a “non-distress” find, National Capital Wing was ready and actively monitoring for distress signals. The Air Force no longer listens for the old 121.5 MHz distress beacons, which are still used by aircraft and vessels that have not made the switch to the digital 406 MHz beacon. Without the Civil Air Patrol actively monitoring the old frequency, these distress signals could go unnoticed. This is the fifth distress signal silenced in the Washington, D.C., metro area so far this year.