It was another fruitless day for those searching for the missing Dynamic Aviation-owned Beech King Air aircraft and its three occupants even after a weak Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) signal was detected on Saturday.
Missing: James Wesley Barker
Head of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Zulfikar Mohammed, yesterday confirmed that the ELT signal was picked up but he said it now means that the search and rescue party will have to narrow it down to a specific location.
Mohammed said that because the area is so big the receiving of the weak signal really means nothing unless there is a specific location. He said the more precisely they can “pinpoint the location the better result they would get.” He suggested that it has to be narrowed down to about 100 square miles before it can really mean something.
The Head of the GCAA said that the ground search continued aided by the Dynamic Aviation plane and the helicopter which was manned by the Special Forces. “A lot happened but it is just that there was no success. They would have to continue searching tomorrow (today),” he said. The plane went missing two Saturdays ago
Its occupants were conducting a geophysics survey. Those on board were the pilot Captain James Wesley Barker, First Officer Chris Paris, who are both US citizens, and Canadian Patrick Murphy, a Geophysics technician.
“Head of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Zulfikar Mohammed, yesterday confirmed that the ELT signal was picked up but he said it now means that the search and rescue party will have to narrow it down to a specific location.”
Congrats are in order to the genious Mr. Zulfikar Mohammed for being able to state the obvious! That is the purpose of an ELT signal, to be able to locate (or narrow down as Mr. Mohammed likes to say) the missing aircraft. Even as a weak signal it should have been intensely traced as the signal is being generated from the exact location of the aircraft itself.
“Mohammed said that because the area is so big the receiving of the weak signal really means nothing unless there is a specific location.”
Mr. Mohammed…..did you expect the ELT to tell you where it was in plain language??? The ELT signal is a vauable tool provided so that you may attempt to do your job, which we know now is not the case. Maybe you are waiting for the next ELT signal to come and speak to you in order to give you more detailed information??!!!!
I am a friend of Wes Barker and have read about Chris Paris and Patrick Murphy. From what I know about these guys and what I have read, I think it’s an abomination that they have been out there for 9 days because of an incompetent search and rescue operation.
Posted by vegasbill777@yahoo.com
Well Bill, it’s obvious that resources are a challenge in this part of the world. It’s also obvious that you are upset, but the name calling not going to help any.
This is extreme terrain, not “bush flying” but “jungle flying” without any radar coverage, so no radar “fix” to start with. I would say the ELT battery might have been low as well explaining the weak signal. Hopefully they are able to home-in on the wreckage very soon.
Re: “[....From what I know about these guys and what I have read, I think it’s an abomination that they have been out there for 9 days because of an incompetent search and rescue operation....]” How about calling this the “dumbing down” of the once capable Guyana Defense Force (GDF) to two second-hand helicopters incapable of certain functionalities like that of the aiding of the “insertion of members of a search and rescue party in Guyana’s jungle terrain” when most needed. What indigent thinking/planning by so-called decision-makers where peoples’ lives are involved. :-(
What you expect Bill, that is Gy for you, they don’t give a damn, there is never any urgency. Very sad , just a bunch of fools their motto is hurry up and wait.
Please find them, you are doing a great job.
Bill,
I think at this time the family and friends dealing with this do not need any negativity. We all hope these men will be found soon. Please keep a positive attitude.
A smaller area to search, around where the E.L.T signal was received.
Still hoping for the best….
One would think with the advanced technology we have today. We could find these young men before now.
Steve
This is not Good, for an excuse. If there’s a Signal from the ELT then we can pin-point the aircraft. It would cost less that US $1000 for an precise position of the ELT. It can be narrowed down to 2 Square Inches. Please Contact Euro-Sat Intel-Searc for further assistance.
Re: “[....Please Contact Euro-Sat Intel-Searc for further assistance....]” The big question is: Do these “blogs” (questions, criticisms, suggestions….) get read by the people for whom they are intended?
Unless you folks have a greater understanding of ELT’s than I do, what you propose (2 square inches) is not possible. The jungle canopy acts as a “roof” to signals coming in and going out, explaining why the signal is weak. Depending on which ELT the aircraft had installed (121.5 Mhz or 406 Mhz) also dictates what information is provided by the ELT. GPS’s and other devices don’t work as well under 2-3 layers of canopy (a typical aircraft GPS cannot find satellites in a hangar). As far as I know there is not a system that could pick up a weak ELT signal and pinpoint it. Compare it to two people going out in the woods with walkie talkies and trying to find each other based on signal strength, that’s essentially what they’re dealing with.
Unfortunately, this is not a sophisticated military operation so I will leave it the way it is.
However, this aircraft: according to recent “intelrepo” did not crah
it flew on and over SBPV. There is more to it than that.
I would advise pilots in Guyana to always crash where they can be found! Crashing in other remote places will leave you on your own. What we have learnt from all this, is that the competent authorities responsible for search and rescue operations have proven that they are incompetent. No use involving the foreigners who are involved in the search, they do not know the country. If the ELT signal is weak, this shows that the search team did not have the slightest idea where the aircraft could have gone down, to only have heard it now. There is somethinh good in this though, if the ELT had not been activated before the “crash” it means that someone activated it afterwards, the problem is the time that has elasped, time is one thing that is not on the side of airplane crash victims. There was a terrible accident here in Brazil some time ago where a Boeing 737-800 was hit by the wing of an Embraer Legacy, the boeing broke up after a dive from 37000 feet, and fell into the amazon jungle, 154 people died, which was everyone on board, the search and rescue party recovered all 154 bodies, they only found the heavier parts of the aircraft, the Legacy flown by american pilots suffered damage to the wing tip, the landed in one piece. The point is, we can’t compare Brazil’s size with Guyana, yet these people are able to find planes that go down in their forest. There should be simulated search and rescue operations in Guyana, to prepare the competent personel for eventualities.
He seems not to know much about what he’s managing. Seems like the aviation area has more than its fair share of these ‘octagon pegs in square holes?’ Guess the mission is now a search and recover because I seriously doubt that those persons can survive that long in this area. Very sad indeed!
Re: “[....Guess the mission is now a search and recover because I seriously doubt that those persons can survive that long in this area. Very sad indeed!...]” It would be nice to know that these “guys” have survived this apparently unscheduled landing and were all rescued by “Indigenous People” living in that area and they are patiently awaiting the arrival of the the people from the “outside” world. Meanwhile, lets hope that all is well for these “guys” who are unfortunately caught up is this drama.
bill delage, are you saying the british are incompetent too? as i recall they have been searching since day one. have you ever been in guyana or any jungle before?
Most of these people here have never been into the interior to know what the rain forest looks like.The plane can go down into a little opening and it will be impossible to see from above,Because how tick the vegatation is,this is not black sage bush.
Maybe they can relate to steve fosset,how big a search part was out there.
Guyana only have so much.
Quiban,, not Bill alone is saying so others also, British Pilots with their helicoptors are incompetent also, all those Veteran Bush Pilots that are engaged in the search are incompetent too.
Comparing a Commercial Jet-liner with a Beech King is a is such a gran difference, the destruction ratio on crashing!! Commercial Jet gives almost minutely coordinates, whereby a small aircraft 2 or 3 calls hourly giving their ground position.
Listen the important thing here is that our men and woman is doing everything there can to located this plane,and we should all pray for their safe return,so we should stop looking for error in each other story and concentrate.
I personally hopes that these men are safe and in the best of health.Good luck to all those who are committing their time in this urgent need.
bill delage, are you saying the british are incompetent too? as i recall they have been searching since day one. have you ever been in guyana or any jungle before?
I second that comment quibian. What folks fail to realize is that Guyana is an extremely poor country. Many of these sophisticated search and rescue methods readily available in 1st world coutries simply are not readily at hand in Guyana. Even in the best conditions flying over that region is perilous. My prayers go out to those missing and I pray that God keeps them safe.
i dont think he knew the British was looking for them 2……….besides its a blame game now . so its all on Guyana.
so do i. My HEART tell me they are still with us
Couldn’t the searcher go to the villages in the regions of the missing plane and ask for the help of the natives?