[Eaa42-list] FCC Bans 121.5 ELTs

[Harry DeBruhl]

As a former Alaska ANG search and rescue pilot, I support this ruling.  Why would anyone knowingly place their and their loved one's lives in jeapordy by using an ELT on a frequency that no-one monitors anymore!?!  We all want the latest and greatest in our airplanes, but cheap out on a piece of equipment that is more reliable, more accurate, and is even programmable to transmit your GPS position when activated.  Just because you don't use it every flight doesn't mean it's not important.  Getting a 406 MHz ELT is a no brainer, that is, if you use your brain.  
 
Harry DeBruhl
 
--- On Mon, 6/21/10, Lars Gleitsmann <larsgleitsmann at gmail.com> wrote:


From: Lars Gleitsmann <larsgleitsmann at gmail.com>
Subject: [Eaa42-list] FCC Bans 121.5 ELTs
To: "Walter Yankauskas" <w at waltery.com>, "ehotline" <ehotline at eaa.org>, eaa42-list at eaa42.org, govt at eaa.org
Date: Monday, June 21, 2010, 6:55 PM



Another blow to GA owners! -government running amok!

FCC Bans 121.5 ELTs

June 21, 2010
By Mary Grady, Contributing editor

The Federal Communications Commission took the general aviation world by surprise when it said in a recent report (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103500294837&s=1458&e=001M6yc39mJFVF4-fVIt75XGecNDZbley9ii0QmGoSxeHCJrhR7Zni3UgFXolrO1ImXhsnHndlNQtzTcVcv-UIrwc5r-DKH4P6cT7Lgjv9vb9vjVF0VMtHoCV8SzrHwfoLJzAGEbN-bFISS27c1pfT5p35CZSVeilT-tZaFdBSkMYfxnqdWGTYCTQ==) it will prohibit the sale or use of 121.5 MHz emergency locator transmitters, effective in August. The Aircraft Electronics Association said (http://aea.net/governmentaffairs/regulatoryupdates.asp?ID=42) 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 o
 wners 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 (http://www.aopa.org/advocacy/articles/2010/100621elt.html) it is opposed to the rule change.

The entire article may be viewed at http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/FCCBans1215ELTs_202760-1.html


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