Posted on 06/22/2010 6:09:03 AM PDT by pabianice
The Federal Communications Commission took the general aviation world by surprise when it said in a recent report it will prohibit the sale or use of 121.5 MHz emergency locator transmitters, effective in August. The Aircraft Electronics Association said it just learned of the new rule today, and has begun working with the FAA, FCC and others to allow for timely compliance without grounding thousands of general aviation aircraft. The 121.5 ELTs are allowed under FAA rules. The FCC said its rules have been amended to "prohibit further certification, manufacture, importation, sale or use of 121.5 MHz ELTs." The FCC says that if the 121.5 units are no longer available, aircraft owners and operators will "migrate" to the newer 406.0-406.1 MHz ELTs, which are monitored by satellite, while the 121.5 frequency is not. "Were we to permit continued marketing and use of 121.5 MHz ELTs ... it would engender the risk that aircraft owners and operators would mistakenly rely on those ELTs for the relay of distress alerts," the FCC says. AOPA said today it is opposed to the rule change.
"The FCC is making a regulatory change that would impose an extra cost on GA operators, without properly communicating with the industry or understanding the implications of its action," said AOPA Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Rob Hackman. "There is no FAA requirement to replace 121.5 MHz units with 406 MHz technology. When two government agencies don't coordinate, GA can suffer." The AEA said dealers should refrain from selling any new 121.5 MHz ELTs "until further understanding of this new prohibition can be understood and a realistic timeline for transition can be established."
Electronics change so fast one strategy to stay up with the latest is buy personal devices and not install them permanently in the aircraft. It's the person that needs rescuing anyway, not the aircraft. An installed generic antenna and power hookup would be useful. Someone could use their ELT, GPS, and a picture taking black box worn as a necklace, at other times as well.
This is not a spur the moment decision by Obama. It’s been in the works for years, and is only now happening.
Sounds like something the government would think up. After all, we wouldn't want anyone sneaking a weapon on board that they could then use to force themselves to commit a terrorist act while they were flying their own plane.
“aircraft owners and operators will “migrate” to the newer 406.0-406.1 MHz ELTs, which are monitored by satellite”
They simply wish to track, and monitor ALL personal and private aircraft.
Because AOPA did backed Obama and charged the annual dues automatically to my credit card after I told them not to, I canceled my AOPA membership. So far, AOPA is nothing but a money hog with little return. They backed Obama and nothing could doom GA faster than a Communist in the Whitehouse. McCain is not for GA, either, but Obama is far worse.
Ha, maybe.
Seriously, obtaining FAA certification for anything takes quite a while. An ELT, in particular, is tough because it must survive a crash and still put out a minimum transmit power for a minimum period.
Transitioning to 406MHz ELTs is technically a good thing for many reasons, but the issue here is how that transition takes place and how quickly. Slamming this on GA rather than allowing the marketplace (i.e. aircraft owners) to manage the transition is the problem. There are tradeoffs and alternatives, such as keeping the older 121.5 MHz intstallation in the aircraft but carrying a portable 406 MHz unit in your flight bag at a much lower cost. Also, the batteries in the ELTs must be replaced periodically, and some owners opt to upgrade to 406 when their 121.5 ELT battery needs replacement.
This reminds me of the recent pulling of the plug on the LORAN-C navigation system that was done on short notice and very quickly earlier this year.
After we elect a new Congress in November, we need to impeach Obama, try him for treason and ship him to Gitmo to rot with his muslim buddies.
They backed an effeminate poser over a former naval pilot for President? It's sad how institutions move to the left over time until they go bankrupt, morally and financially.
While I don’t like the slamming of 406MHz ELT onto GA rather than let the market transition away from 121.5 MHz on their own, the facts are that 406 units and the satellite monitoring system provide a much quicker detection mechanism and a smaller recovery zone to search.
Talk to some CAP pilots who fly the SAR missions.
406 makes this much easier.
Which is fine and dandy, but that is an FAA consideration, not an FCC. Why didn’t the FAA decree it so?
As a previously poster pointed out, ELTs (both 121.5 MHz and 406 MHz) only transmit when activated, either manually or after a crash (or a hard landing). Put the tin foil hats away.
There are more troubling issues that have the potential to adversely affect GA, such as the EPA pulling 100LL fuel off the market by administrative fiat or the TSA mandating that all GA flights must be security cleared by TSA agents.
Considering that there are over 5,300 GA airports open around the clock and that many of them have only a couple of fights per day I would like to know how this would be done.
Personally, I believe it would be impossible without a very large fee per diem, and that would spell the end of most non critical flights, which would then increase the fees into the stratosphere to pay people to do nothing at all.
I’m wondering what will become of that 121.5 MHz frequency allocation...................Who stands at the door, campaign contribution in hand, ready to utilize that freq?.................
Sounds like an Aeronca ;-)
“Which is fine and dandy, but that is an FAA consideration, not an FCC. Why didn’t the FAA decree it so?”
I’m guessing here, but it sure sounds like the FAA was surprised by the FCC report. Technically the FCC controls
communications spectrum in the U.S. , which the FAA aviation regulations. Clearly there is overlap, especially
with respect to emergency systems where many other agencies and organizations become involved. It’s too early to read the political tea leaves but it could be as simple as inter-agency muscle or lack of coordination. We’ll learn more as this plays out. I was only trying to point out that technically 406MHz ELTs are a good thing, but leave it to the market to do the cost-benefit analysis and roll out on their own timetable.
They are far superior to any of us (in their minds) and thus they must eliminate any form of freedom that we have.
They are the only ones that can do as they wish because they do so under their form of enlightenment and thus can do no wrong.
Private aircraft, and most commercial, are an anathema to their belief system. We need permission to eat and breath let alone travel somewhere. We have no concept of how to appreciate “Gaea” like they do and so do not deserve to do anything except stay in one location and die as soon as possible to create as little impact on “their” Earth as possible.
“I’m wondering what will become of that 121.5 MHz frequency allocation...................Who stands at the door, campaign contribution in hand, ready to utilize that freq?.................”
While I share where your head is at, in this case 121.5 MHz will not be reallocated for some other purpose. In addition to its use for the older ELTs, it is still the emergency voice frequency that pilots are taught by regulation to use when transmitting MAYDAY or other requests for help.
Not to mention that it’s right in the middle of the VHF band that is allocated for aircraft voice transmissions, such as with control towers and air traffic control centers.
Sounds to me they want to track movement of people better.
Okay. My inner skeptic is satisfied.........for the moment.......
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