Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Dornier’s search dims; Anxiety grips family of missing crew

C Shivakumar

Chennai:

The signal from the sonar locating beacon of missing Indian Coast
Guard’s aircraft could be the only hope to locate the Dornier and it
is likely to fade away in the next couple of days even as families of
three missing crew members urge the government to seek international
help to locate their kin.



As 28 days have passed, there has been no trace of the aircraft expect
confirmation of Indian Navy’s submarine and Hydrographic survey

vessel INS Sandhayak picking up signals which is believed to be from
the aircraft’s Sonar Locating Beacon.



While the families of three coastguard crew members are anxious and
worried, it is learnt that the Indian government has approached High
Commission of India at Colombo seeking assistance from Sri Lankan Navy
for a prompt feedback on any sighting of the crew or aircraft.



Padma, mother of co-pilot deputy commandant Subash Suresh, says that she wants this uncertainty to end soon. “I need more. They should have sought international support. The solar
locating beacon could transmit signal for up to 30 days. They should
act fast,” she said.



“Till now we did not get any output. There haas been no news of debris
or anything. I want to see my son’s face,” said Subash’s mother.



Inspector General SP Sharma, Commander, Indian Coast Guard (East) told
Express while the aircraft can emit minimum signal of up to 30 days,
we do expect that it also has a maximum time span and we are positive
to locate it by then.



“Besides the Flight Data Recorder of the aircraft also emits signals
which could be picked up by the search and rescue team,” he said.



He also ruled out that the aircraft wasn’t airworthy as it has old
emergency locator transmitter (ELT) whose signal can’t be picked up by
satellites. The aircraft’s ELT can transmit three different analog
frequencies. They could transmit the analog frequency of 121.5MHZ,
243MHZ and 406 MHZ .



There are two types of ELT -- the older models,  transmit over 121.5
megahertz, an analog frequency, while newer beacons, use 406 megahertz
and broadcast digitally. If the aircraft transmits frequency below
406, it is unlikely to be picked up, according to Cospas-Sarsat, the
International Satellite system for search and rescue.

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