Cobham Life Support
ACR Products
5757 Ravenswood Road
Fort Lauderdale
FL 33312-6645 USA
T: +1 (954) 981-3333
F: +1 (954) 983-5087
DATE: June 3, 2010
Pilot Deploys Multiple Survival Technologies Following Glider Crash
PITTSBURGH, PA – After losing control and ploughing his glider through mountain tree tops, veteran pilot and Pennsylvania business executive Les Dutka laysat unconscious in the cockpit of his Scheicher ASW-20C, upside down and resting on the forest floor.
At this point, one needs to consider the old adage “If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, did it make a sound?”
On Sunday, May 9th, there were no human ears to hear Dutka’s glider crashing into rugged mountains near Altoona, Pennsylvania. However, there were satellites listening thousands of miles above the earth.
A day of ridge soaring in his 25-year-old glider turned into near tragedy when the glider pilot couldn’t find an organized thermal in order to cross the Altoona Gap and then allowed himself to get too far downwind of the crest and too low to the trees. He had not dropped his water ballast to decrease stall speed and the next Dutka knew, he had spun out of control, dropping into the side of a forested mountain. An open area crash certainly would have proved fatal, however, luck intervened and the trees cushioned the fall.
It wasn’t until the 66-year-old regained consciousness, that he removed his 406 MHz ACR MicroFix™ Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) from his parachute strap, deploy the antenna and hit the “send” button. NOAA’s (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites) in high earth orbit picked up the first 406 MHz hit from the PLB, and four different LEO (low-earth orbit) satellites acquiredDutka’s general position (within two and a half miles) through The Doppler Shift calculations.
During this time, Dutka, who suffered a gash to his forehead and a broken left ankle and left and right foot bones miraculously crawled from the cockpit with his still transmitting MicroFix™ and then activated a second emergency device, a SPOT satellite messenger. Both the MicroFix™ and SPOT utilized onboard GPS engines to acquire and transmit GPS coordinates to various emergency responders. Unfortunately, due to an occluded view of the sky caused by overhead tree canopies, GPS coordinates were difficult to obtain by the signalling devices. The PLB eventually acquired GPS, however, as a result of the PLB’s powerful 406 MHz signal, rescue agencies were already aware of the crash, and SAR response was underway.
The MicroFix™ was transmitting three levels of integrated signal technology—a powerful 406 MHz signal, GPS coordinates with LAT/LON and a 121.5 MHz homing signal. While the tree canopies apparently initially prohibited the PLB from acquiring GPS (NOAA confirmed that it eventually received GPS data from the PLB), the beacon’s 6-watt 406 MHz signal successfully reached a satellite, which relayed the signal to the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC) at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida.
The search was officially on.
Tyndall verified the emergency and identified the sender through the beacon’s unique 15-digit hex ID number, allowing them to pull up registration emergency data filed by Dutka, which included a cell phone number.
The AFRCC then contacted the local Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA), which made contact with Dutka via the cell phone number provided. PEMA instructed Dutka to call 911, though SAR responders already had broad search coordinates of a two-and-a-half-mile radius courtesy of measuring the Doppler shift. Had they received GPS, the search radius would have been reduced to 100 meters.
An older model 121.5MHz ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitter) was also aboard the glider and apparently was activated, according to Dutka.
Within two hours of the crash, paramedics and members of the Sinking Valley Volunteer Fire Department, were in the area. Without a location finder, which would have been able to read and extrapolate position from the MicroFix’s 121.5 MHz homing signal, the responders had to rely on Dutka responding to sounds they made.
“I had to listen and then talk them in by cell phone,” said Dutka, who could also hear a helicopter circling in search patterns above the forest.
Dutka, who has flown conventional and glider aircraft over the course of the last 35 years, was located and transported to Altoona Regional Hospital.
“I’m really not sure what happened, maybe a brief loss of concentration given the strong conditions,” said Dutka of the incident.
He had made the same flight from the Ridge Soaring Gliderport in Unionville, Pa. several times before without incident. A past president of the Pittsburgh Soaring Club, Dutka, who owns an international language translation business in Pittsburgh, said he is a firm believer in pilots carrying emergency beacons.
“You never know on any given day when you will need them,” he said.
About Satellite Detectible Emergency Beacons
406 MHz EPIRBs (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons) and PLBs transmit signals on internationally recognized distress frequencies. NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) monitors the 406 MHz signal and the Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking System (COSPAS-SARSAT) detects and locates distress signals and forwards the information directly to the Coast Guard. GPS coordinates greatly assist search and rescue crews, and in the event GPS isn’t acquired, position can be calculated through Doppler Shift as a reliable backup.
NOAA has reported that in 2009, Cospas-Sarsat assisted in the rescue of 154 people in 63 incidents at sea. Worldwide, the Cospas-Sarsat system is credited with rescuing more than 27,000 people since the program’s inception in 1982. Of that number, more than 6,000 persons were rescued in the U.S.
An EPIRB/PLB is a satellite-signalling device of last resort, for use when all other means of self-rescue have been exhausted and where the situation is deemed to be grave and imminent, and the loss of life, limb, eyesight or valuable property will occur without assistance. All beacons must be registered online at following purchase.
About ACR Electronics, Inc.
ACR Electronics, Inc. designs and manufactures a complete line of safety and survival products including EPIRBs, PLBs, AIS, SARTs, Strobe Lights, Life Jacket Lights, Search Lights and safety accessories. The quality systems of this facility have been registered by UL to the ISO 9001:2008 Series Standards. Recognized as the world leader in safety and survival technologies, ACR has provided safety equipment to the aviation and marine industries as well as to the military since 1956. The company is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and employs 200 at its manufacturing facility.
About Cobham plc
Cobham plc is an international company engaged in the development, delivery and support of advanced aerospace and defense systems for land, sea, air and space. The company has four divisions that collectively specialize in the provision of components, subsystems and services that keep people safe, improve communications and enhance the capability of aerospace and defense platforms.
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ACR Electronics, Inc. doing business as Cobham Life Support