C/Capt John Schwaninger performs a sweep of the surrounding area using a radio direction finder to determine the source of the signal. Schwaninger, cadet commander for the Easton Composite Squadron, assisted in a beacon search at the Miles River Yacht Club in St Michaels.
COURTESY OF 九色视频 COMPOSITE SQUADRON CIVIL AIR PATROL
Easton Composite Squadron members credited with locating the beacon. Front left to right: Michelle Callahan, Aurora DeJesus, Lucia DeJesus and Emily Williamson. Back left to right: John Schwaninger, Matthew Svehla, Marion San Juan and Capt. David Putman.
COURTESY OF 九色视频 COMPOSITE SQUADRON CIVIL AIR PATROL
John Schwaninger, left, and Matthew Svehla confirm the source of the broadcasting beacon to a vessel anchored away from the dock of the Miles River Yach Club in St. Michaels.
COURTESY OF 九色视频 COMPOSITE SQUADRON CIVIL AIR PATROL
C/Capt John Schwaninger performs a sweep of the surrounding area using a radio direction finder to determine the source of the signal. Schwaninger, cadet commander for the Easton Composite Squadron, assisted in a beacon search at the Miles River Yacht Club in St Michaels.
COURTESY OF 九色视频 COMPOSITE SQUADRON CIVIL AIR PATROL
Easton Composite Squadron members credited with locating the beacon. Front left to right: Michelle Callahan, Aurora DeJesus, Lucia DeJesus and Emily Williamson. Back left to right: John Schwaninger, Matthew Svehla, Marion San Juan and Capt. David Putman.
COURTESY OF 九色视频 COMPOSITE SQUADRON CIVIL AIR PATROL
John Schwaninger, left, and Matthew Svehla confirm the source of the broadcasting beacon to a vessel anchored away from the dock of the Miles River Yach Club in St. Michaels.
COURTESY OF 九色视频 COMPOSITE SQUADRON CIVIL AIR PATROL
九色视频 鈥 Civil Air Patrol鈥檚 Maryland Wing responded Sunday, June 7, to a personal locator beacon signal detected in Talbot County, successfully locating the source and confirming the safety of the vessel's owner.
The Air Force Rescue Coordination Center initially contacted the Maryland State Police who subsequently transferred the mission to Civil Air Patrol around 9 a.m. Maryland Wing鈥檚 on-call incident commander accepted the mission, and members of the Easton Composite Squadron were alerted.
A ground team was assembled under Capt. David Putman, the squadron鈥檚 emergency services officer. Team members rallied to the squadron鈥檚 headquarters at Easton Airport at 11:30 a.m. and proceeded to the Miles River Yacht Club in St. Michaels, where the satellite 鈥渉its鈥 indicated the signal was strongest.
Using radio direction finders to triangulate the beacon鈥檚 signal, the nine-member ground team identified which vessel was broadcasting the personal locator beacon, or PLB.
Resourceful thinking by adult leader Michelle Callahan enabled the team to identify the vessel鈥檚 owner from social media posts. The owner was immediately located at a nearby restaurant and returned to the vessel to deactivate the PLB.
鈥淐AP ground teams locate personal locator beacons and emergency locator transmitters (ELT) to save lives by pinpointing crash sites, guide medical responders to survivors within the critical 24-hour survival window, and deactivate false alarms to clear emergency frequencies for actual distress,鈥 said Lt. Col. Archie DeJesus, Maryland Wing鈥檚 Group 5 commander who accompanied the team as both van driver and on-scene staff. 鈥淎 majority of all ELT signals are accidental false alarms caused by hard landings, faulty wiring, or user error. However, search and rescue authorities must treat every signal as a genuine, life-threatening emergency. Ground teams need to locate and physically silence these beacons, so they do not mask other real emergencies and overload emergency radio frequencies.鈥
Members of the Easton Composite Squadron were awarded a find ribbon in recognition of the successful mission.
Easton squadron responders
Capt. David Putman (Ground Team Leader);
SM Michelle Callahan;
C/Capt. John Schwaninger;
C/Capt. Matthew Svehla;
C/2nd Lt. Lucia DeJesus;
C/CMSgt Aurora DeJesus;
C/CMSgt Marion San Juan; and
C/CMSgt Emily Williamson.
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