On March 2, 2000, COPA member Herb Brown disappeared while
flying his amateur-built aircraft, a 1983 AMF-S14F Maranda. Brown was on a
recreational flight between Langley and Chilliwack, BC. When he was reported as
overdue at Chilliwack, a search was conducted by 442 Transport and Rescue
Squadron and CASARA aircraft. The whole search area was covered thoroughly with
some parts being searched many times. The missing aircraft was not found and the
case became a missing person police matter.
Members of the Brown family continued efforts after the official search was
minimized. It came to the attention of COPA member Fred Carey, a professional
electronics technician and CASARA member, that there was a brief recording of an
ELT from the Abbotsford tower. He told the family of a technique for analyzing
the tape to determine likely areas where the signal could have come from. Using
an adaptation of a program employed by the broadcasting industry to predict
radio signal coverage, Fred was able to reverse the process and predict the
distance that the ELT was from the recording station. Applying inductive logic
to eliminate certain directions around Abbotsford, a new small area was
identified to look for the missing plane. This area was covered from the air
several times during the search by DND and CASARA. The family circulated a large
number of handbills in that area (north of the Fraser River). A hiker called and
said that he had found something in the bush not far from Mission, B.C. It
turned out to be the missing aircraft. It was barely recognizable from the
ground and was invisible from the air. The pilot had not survived the impact.
COPA was asked to investigate the sequence of events following the crash to see
if anything should be done differently in the future. COPA staff carried out an
investigation and produced a detailed report. The most significant finding was
that the location technique was unknown to the search community and, as
demonstrated in this case, could be a useful tool to help narrow search areas.
The COPA report, which recommends that Carey’s “Reverse Footprinting” method of
analyzing ELT signals be made known to SAR personnel, has been widely circulated
in the SAR community across Canada. We are pleased to report that senior
military SAR staff have agreed that the locating technique will be included in
SAR manuals and taught on searchmaster courses. In this accident, the analysis
of the ELT signal didn’t save a life, but it is hoped that it will in future
SARs. Either way it may make future SARs quicker and hopefully less risky for
SAR and CASARA crews.
COPA would like to thank the Brown family for bringing this technique to our
attention so that we could consequently convince DND of its merit as a SAR tool.
We would also like to thank COPA member Fred Carey for sharing his knowledge
with the whole SAR community. By working together with individuals and agencies,
COPA has helped make the SAR process more efficient and effective.
For more information contact Adam Hunt.