Any time an aircraft may be overdue, missing,
as results, the search and rescue plan is activated. An aircraft on a flight
plan is considered overdue when it has failed to arrive at its destination,
compulsory reporting point, clearance void time or clearance limit 30 minutes
after its estimated time of arrival and communications or location cannot be
established. But in case of overdue aircraft (no flight plan), it is considered
overdue when at the actual time a reliable source reports it to be at
least 1 hour late at destination.
In
this article, I am going to give you an idea about how the FAA search and
rescue plan is activated. Before starting, you need to distinguish between
these two key words, search and rescue.
What does the term search and rescue mean?
If
rescue personnel don't know where the aircraft is, it's a search. If the they
do know where the aircraft is, then it's a rescue. in this context,
responsibility can be broken down into two different areas:
1- The aircraft location is not knowing
In this case, it is the pilot's responsibility to tell search and rescue team by flight plan or radio call. furthermore, after plane crash, it is the aircraft crew responsibility to tell the search and rescue team where they are by using of emergency locator transmitter (ELT) or ground to air signals.
What
aircraft crew do to help in the search phase is the key to their survival, shorten the time from the crash to rescue.
Note : You may like to read my article titled "How Aircraft Crew Deal with the 9 Mental Stressors Successfully".
2- The aircraft location is knowing
If
search and rescue team know where the aircraft location is, then it's aircraft
crew and the rescuer's responsibility to passengers home.
Note : You may like to read my article titled "Why Passengers & Crew Should Assume an Appropriate "Brace-for-Impact Position"".
Average Time from LKP to Rescue Overdue Aircraft
|
Flight plan |
Average Time |
|
If the aircraft use
Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) |
=11.5 Hours |
|
If the aircraft use
Visual Flight Rules (VFR) |
= 18 Hours |
|
If the aircraft use
No Flight Plan |
= 62.5 Hours |
Source : FAA/Basic Survival Skills for
Aviation
|
Flight plan |
Average Time |
|
If the aircraft use
Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) |
=13 hours 6 minute |
|
If the aircraft use
Visual Flight Rules (VFR) |
=
37 Hours 18 minute |
|
If the aircraft use
No Flight Plan |
= 42 hours 24 minutes |
Source: FAA/pilot/training
Note : PILOTS :Having a flight plan on file with a
flight service station is very important.
How much longer?
By
filing a flight plan by pilots, it takes a shortest time for rescue team to
accomplish the survival goal " rescue". The types of flight
plan filed will greatly affect the time. As a result, aircraft crew and passengers may have
to survive during a search phase.
No
matter how long aircraft crew and passengers stayed in the crash place, the important
thing is that they should do everything in their power to accomplish the
survival goal.
When is an Aircraft overdue?
For
an aircraft on a flight plan, the air traffic control system will automatically
initiate a plan to locate overdue aircraft. When an aircraft on a VFR flight
plan is overdue by 30 minutes , or by 30 minutes on a IFR flight plan, the Flight
Service Station servicing the destination airport issues an INREQ (Information
Request).
For an aircraft (no flight plan), there
is no designated time limit before a search is initiated, thus greatly delaying
the onset of search and rescue.
Searching for Overdue Aircraft - the Process
Even
though an aircraft is missing the search may not initiate immediately. The aircraft
must first be verified as overdue. This step of the process is dictated by the
type of flight plan the pilot in command filed. An Information Request
(INREQ).is filed by the Flight Service Station servicing the destination
airport when:
|
An aircraft flying IFR
is overdue with no communications 30 minutes after ETA to a
reporting point. This may be to an enroute point or destination. |
|
- An aircraft flying VFR
is overdue by 30 minutes after ETA to final destination. NOT to an
enroute fuel stop, detour, etc. |
|
- An aircraft filing no
flight plan is overdue by one hour, as reported to the FAA by a reliable
source |
Once the aircraft has been verified to be
overdue the first of three phases is initiated.
First Phase:
The
Uncertainty Phase.
During this phase the FAA and the AFRCC "
Air Force Rescue Coordination Center" conduct a preliminary Communications
(PRECOMM) search. Because of the high rate of false alarms, this phase is
designed to see if the situation is really a missing aircraft or a pilot who
didn't close a flight plan. If the PRECOMM comes up negative, then the next
phase is activated.
What is INREQ (Information Request)?
It is done within 30 minutes after the
aircraft is overdue which destination airfield allowed to send INREQ. It is sent
to the departure airfield, FSS, and the Air Route Traffic Control Centers along
the route of flight.
Second Phase:
The Alert
Phase or Alert Notice (ALNOT).
Normally the ALNOT is issued at the end
of INREQ, at the estimated time that the aircraft fuel would be exhausted, or
when there is serious doubt as to the safety of the aircraft and occupants.
During the ALNOT, the destination airport checks all ramps and hangars to
locate the aircraft. Local law enforcement in the search area is notified, and
all information is sent to AFRCC. If the aircraft is not found during the ALNOT
then the third and final phase is activated.
What is ALNOT (Alert Notice)?
ALNOT t is "a request originated by a
flight service station (FSS) or an air route traffic control center (ARTCC) for
an extensive communication search for overdue, unreported, or missing
aircraft,"
Conduct a communications search of those
flight plan area airfields, which fall within ALNOT search areas and were not
contacted during an INREQ search.
Third Phase:
The
Distress Phase
At this point, the actual search mission
is launched. Usually, air search efforts will not begin until daylight, unless
the aircraft is equipped with a functioning ELT (Electronic Locator
Transmitter) directing a ground rescue party to the general vicinity of the aircraft crash site, and if, the weather permits, an ELT also points air rescue to the
distress location. Even with a functioning ELT, terrain and weather may hamper
response time.
Aircraft crew should remember that survive
after a crash needs a good training and good survival kit.
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