MISSION PRESS RELEASE: 07M1897

Col Joseph S. King, CAP
Alert Mission Information Officer
pa@ilwg.cap.gov

The well-oiled coordination between an Illinois Wing aircrew and ground searchers resulted in the find of a squawking ELT under unusual circumstances.

On October 14th, Air Force Rescue Coordination Center located at Tyndall AFB, Fla., opened a REDCAP ELT search mission with Incident Commander, Lt Col Connie Kelly.  SARSAT coordinates plotted ELT transmissions near Dekalb, Ill.  Lt. Col. Kelly dispatched an aircrew and a ground-searchers to the coordinates received from the satellite.  The signal was picked up on 121.5 MHz and 243.0 MHz.

Mission Pilot, Capt. Mike Lain, said that a strong signal was detected immediately upon take-off from DuPage County Airport.  He initiated a steep climb to facilitate direction-finding reception while Mission Observer, 1st. Lt. Andy Vlack, used airborne DF equipment to home in on the beacon.

Ground-search head, Capt Bob Becker, along with C/Lt Col Jeff Becker and C/Lt Col Christine Sydney, received guidance from the aircrew that narrowed the search to Sycamore, Ill.  Portable direction finding equipment led the ground unit to a workshop on a farm in Sycamore.  Capt. Becker stated that the farm owner was in the process of either building or restoring an aircraft and the ELT was sitting on a workbench.  Maintenance had been done on the beacon's wiring that might have resulted in a short-circuit triggering the ELT, according to Capt. Becker.  He said that the ELT was different than any he had seen before.  "It was small, yellow and about the size of a cigarette pack," said Capt. Becker.  The unit was shut off and the SARSAT no longer recorded any signals.

Members who participated in Mission 07M1897 will receive credit for an ELT Find. For the month of October, Lt. Col. Kelly is the alert IC and Col. Joe King is the alert MIO.