ELT Debate – Round ?
The following was originally written for Wings Magazine Blog in July, 2010.
Well here go again! After running around the bush a few more times we seem to have come back to where we started. The final decision has been made – with some influence it seems from DND – the same folks who have to handle SAR when an ELT goes off. In short – 406 ELTs are in and that is that. The what and when is still be “inked” and posted but the bottom line remains, sooner or later it looks like you will have to get a 406Mhz ELT into your private aircraft if you want to fly in Canadian airspace – regardless if you live here or not.
And just when everyone was getting up in arms that we in Canada were being too heavy handed in such a decision – especially for our visiting friends from other nations like the US – well then in came another hit. The FCC in the US announced in June that the 406 technology was good for them too and to forget the 121.5Mhz standard. The only noted exception in the FCC announcement was apparently the Breitling Emergency Watch ELT. Just to ice the cake, the FCC rule is supposed to take effect 60 days after formal “publication” – which depending on the report you read would be as soon as August 15, 2010. A personal comment on that is GOOD LUCK! With far fewer aircraft in Canada that were to affected by this change, our experts and authorities said we could never make the last proposed drop dead date by virtue of the laws governing supply and demand. So how the heck would the entire US civil fleet make it?
But hang on – seems the FCC and the FAA have a different view of this issue (or perhaps did not consult each other on the whole thing – how Canadian that is EH?). As one of the many comments and articles on this stated “FAA in 14 CFR Part 91.207, stipulates that U.S. registered civil airplanes are required to have an approved automatic type emergency locator transmitter in operable condition attached to the airplane. The FAA does not specify either 121.5 or 406 MHz, but the overwhelming majority of aircraft are equipped with 121.5 MHz units, meaning they would be in violation of federal law when it goes into effect.”
Enter the alphabet organizations! AOPA have been joined be EAA and AEA – among others - in a battle to save the 121.5 ELT! And their arguments sound all too familiar – cost to the aircraft owner, time to get it all done, alternative technologies that could be considered and even the most simple “who are you to tell us what to do – only the FAA can do that”. As one comment in the US trade media said, “The FCC rule highlights that fact that threats to GA can come from many different agencies, and that agencies outside of the FAA do not necessarily understand the effects of their actions on aviation.”
And in all this I hear a familiar voice – Kevin Psutka and his members at COPA – saying ever so politely – been there and done that! Kevin has been a strong contender in GA rights – especially the ELT fight – for many years now. And while we do on occasion agree to disagree on the odd thing, one common area we share is a strong dislike for rules and changes that get forced on the aviation community without proper consultation or user input. In our domestic 406 debate, it would seem that despite the best efforts of Kevin and his team, in the end we have come right back to where we were a year or so ago. All we have done is postpone the inevitable – a rush a grumpy aircraft owners to get a new force-fed piece of technology installed in their aircraft. And now it would seem our US friends are heading down the same road. Well good luck with that!
Gee – would it not be nice if we could perhaps get common rule making and timing in place one day soon? That perhaps our rule makers and those in the US could collaborate on making things the same that affect us equally in aviation on both sides of the border? Or would that be just too much to ask?
RS
The following was originally written for Wings Magazine Blog in July, 2010.
Well here go again! After running around the bush a few more times we seem to have come back to where we started. The final decision has been made – with some influence it seems from DND – the same folks who have to handle SAR when an ELT goes off. In short – 406 ELTs are in and that is that. The what and when is still be “inked” and posted but the bottom line remains, sooner or later it looks like you will have to get a 406Mhz ELT into your private aircraft if you want to fly in Canadian airspace – regardless if you live here or not.
And just when everyone was getting up in arms that we in Canada were being too heavy handed in such a decision – especially for our visiting friends from other nations like the US – well then in came another hit. The FCC in the US announced in June that the 406 technology was good for them too and to forget the 121.5Mhz standard. The only noted exception in the FCC announcement was apparently the Breitling Emergency Watch ELT. Just to ice the cake, the FCC rule is supposed to take effect 60 days after formal “publication” – which depending on the report you read would be as soon as August 15, 2010. A personal comment on that is GOOD LUCK! With far fewer aircraft in Canada that were to affected by this change, our experts and authorities said we could never make the last proposed drop dead date by virtue of the laws governing supply and demand. So how the heck would the entire US civil fleet make it?
But hang on – seems the FCC and the FAA have a different view of this issue (or perhaps did not consult each other on the whole thing – how Canadian that is EH?). As one of the many comments and articles on this stated “FAA in 14 CFR Part 91.207, stipulates that U.S. registered civil airplanes are required to have an approved automatic type emergency locator transmitter in operable condition attached to the airplane. The FAA does not specify either 121.5 or 406 MHz, but the overwhelming majority of aircraft are equipped with 121.5 MHz units, meaning they would be in violation of federal law when it goes into effect.”
Enter the alphabet organizations! AOPA have been joined be EAA and AEA – among others - in a battle to save the 121.5 ELT! And their arguments sound all too familiar – cost to the aircraft owner, time to get it all done, alternative technologies that could be considered and even the most simple “who are you to tell us what to do – only the FAA can do that”. As one comment in the US trade media said, “The FCC rule highlights that fact that threats to GA can come from many different agencies, and that agencies outside of the FAA do not necessarily understand the effects of their actions on aviation.”
And in all this I hear a familiar voice – Kevin Psutka and his members at COPA – saying ever so politely – been there and done that! Kevin has been a strong contender in GA rights – especially the ELT fight – for many years now. And while we do on occasion agree to disagree on the odd thing, one common area we share is a strong dislike for rules and changes that get forced on the aviation community without proper consultation or user input. In our domestic 406 debate, it would seem that despite the best efforts of Kevin and his team, in the end we have come right back to where we were a year or so ago. All we have done is postpone the inevitable – a rush a grumpy aircraft owners to get a new force-fed piece of technology installed in their aircraft. And now it would seem our US friends are heading down the same road. Well good luck with that!
Gee – would it not be nice if we could perhaps get common rule making and timing in place one day soon? That perhaps our rule makers and those in the US could collaborate on making things the same that affect us equally in aviation on both sides of the border? Or would that be just too much to ask?
RS
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