Orolia announces successful test of emergency Return Line Service with service provider Galileo
Crew members making aircraft emergency calls will receive an acknowledgement that their call has been received after successful testing of Orolia’s Kannad Ultima-S first-generation Survival ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitter).
The system uses a Return Link Service (RLS) System, in coordination with service provider Galileo and the French Cospas-Sarsat centre. The successful test makes Orolia’s Kannad Ultima-S the world’s first Survival ELT to include Galileo’s Return Link Automatic Acknowledgment Service. The transmitter can be installed in the aircraft’s cabin or life rafts.
‘Reassurance’ signal confirms help is on its way
Kannad Ultima-S has optional features for its distress Automatic Acknowledgment service. As part of the Cospas-Sarsat System, Galileo satellites can pick up emergency signals from Search and Rescue distress beacons and transmit a ‘reassurance’ signal back to the beacon to confirm receipt of the distress signal. The signal is designed to reduce risk taking actions by survivors by confirming that search and rescue professionals are aware of their situation and location.
Jeremy Ahnes, Key Account Manager at Orolia, explained that RLS was moving further up the agenda with regulators including the FAA or EASA, but it would be in their hands as to whether its introduction would become mandatory over the coming years. The service provides the user with an automatic indication that the distress signal has been detected and localised, and the appropriate Rescue Coordination Centre is alerted, all via the Cospas-Sarsat network.
ELT can be carried in cabin or life raft
Hahnes added: “The product is adaptable to everything – you can carry it in a bag or have it in a life raft in a survival package it is a very resilient, you can use it how you want to use it in a cabin or in a bag – it is up to you.”
Orolia provides GPS/GNSS and PNT solutions to support military and commercial applications worldwide. The company specialises in Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) solutions to improve reliability, performance and safety of critical, remote or high-risk operations.
