Basarnas: Airplane`s Emergency Locator Transmitter Not Detected
29 October 2018 13:38 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Head of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) M Syaugie said the Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) from the Lion Air JT610 aircraft that crashed, was not detected by the Basarnas’ Medium Earth Orbit Local User Terminal (MEOLUT).
“We asked Australia which also has the MEOLUT. It turned out that Australia’s MEOLUT also did not detect the ELT of Lion Air JT610,” Syaugie said at a press conference at the Basarnas Head Office, Jakarta, Monday, October 29.
The Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) Soerjanto Tjahjono suspected that the ELT was not detected because it was drowned along with the fuselage.
Read also: KNKT Hopes to Soon Find Lion Air JT-610 Black Box
“If the ELT has sunk, it cannot send signals because the signal propagates through the air,” he said.
In the water, the aircraft will give a signal through the underwater locator beacon (ULB) in the form of a continuous ‘ping’ sound. To detect the aircraft in the water, the Pinger Finder is used.
“However, the pinger finder often experiences interference in the water, especially if there is a ship passing. Therefore, we will ask the divers to carry a pinger finder at a depth of 10 meters to detect the ULB signals,” he said.
The Lion Air JT610 aircraft from Jakarta to Pangkal Pinang was reported to have lost contact at 6:50 a.m. Basarnas had found the aircraft debris.
ANTARA