A British student who was injured after falling off a horse in a remote part of Russia was rescued yesterday after sending a distress signal which was picked up 3,700 miles away by an RAF base in Scotland.
Kimberley Warren, a second year zoology student at Nottingham University, activated a rescue beacon on Thursday night which was detected by satellites monitored by the UK Mission Control Centre, based within the Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre at RAF Kinloss in Moray.
The beacon used GPS technology, which gives a very accurate position within five seconds of being activated, allowing RAF Kinloss to raise the alarm and tell Russian emergency services where to find the party of nine.
“They were able to pinpoint the location of the group right down to an area smaller than half a tennis court,” said Michael Mulford, from RAF Kinloss, who added that it was “very unusual” for the base to respond to signals so far away.
After a 12-hour helicopter rescue operation Warren, who had broken her leg, was airlifted to a nearby town with the rest of the group.
Globalizing safety is a terrific use of technology like this. Good thing she wasn’t on a Terrorist Watch List.
Here’s the research project she was working on btw.
Makes you wonder why all aircraft ELTs don’t incorporate GPS, perhaps even firing off the occasional GPS location as an ultra-short digital signal to satellites. Among many others, Steve Fossett would not still be missing.
Hmmm. Think of the collision-avoidance possibilities, too.
RBG
Its great to see countries working together on these humanitarian operations.
“Good thing she wasn’t on a Terrorist Watch List.”
Yeah, because if she was she might warrant further investigation into her activities and quite possibly be a threat to innocent people. You far lefties crack me up when paranoia overcomes common sense and reasoning.
#2 – as opposed to the “common sense and reasoning” of backasswards governments elected by fence-sitters and fearfilled conservatives.
No cause to fret over the NSA, FBI or any other of the alphabet-soup of snoops because, after all, you ain’t ever gonna step out of line, are you? In fact, you probably never have.
#3 – Har de har har. Sounds like you are the one filled with fear, not those conservatives you smite. Quick, go hide – they are coming for you!
Meanwhile in my country, I enjoy the freedoms to do as I choose, because we the people elected the officials in office. Sure its not a perfect system, none of them are. But the alternatives around the globe don’t have my convinced to move my life to them. How about you? Oh yeah, you’re hiding….
So, Fried-person, how long has it been that your military allowed you access to GPS? Is that too technical (or political) a topic for you?
It hasn’t been long since the Brits at Kinloss would (1st) ask permission from the US to access emergency satellites; (2) get permission from the US and NATO to communicate with their counterparts in Russia – to enable that student’s rescue.
You would have been as approving of that procedure as the reinstitution of similar Cold War regs which bubble away inside the Beltway, nowadays.
Here in the United States we have a Patriot Act designed to ensure compliance. Perhaps, your homeland doesn’t have one? Or just for immigrant nationalities (so far)? And your democratic government never kisses Uncle Sugar’s butt and is complicit with the CIA?
#5 – the troll you’re talking to probably just doesn’t get it. Americans take our history of independent thought and speech as built-in and, of course, get upset when our government moves in the direction of thought-control, state religion, that we’ve dealt with over the past several years.
In the U.S, those who kowtow to such behavior consistently approve it. Outside these boundaries, the average “democrat” would rarely have the balls to confront their government – politically, intellectually, in the streets or in print outside of effete circles of discussion.
No doubt that’s why (s)he readily raises the non-issue of running away to another land. No doubt unfamiliar with our tradition of standing and fighting – even when our own government is the bastion of reaction – as it was, for example, in the days of legal segregation or in the throes of military stupidity in VietNam.
Or Iraq, today.
You both make many assumptions and run with the ball blindly. Is this a genetic lefty trait? You really don’t know what country I’m from? Wow. That’s a comedy all by itself. or maybe even tragedy.
I’ve made my relevant comment in my first post, and I leave it at that (last post). I love my country because of my freedoms and quality of life is high. Too bad you have issues with yours. I wish you the best resolving them.
Since I’m far outnumbered on this lefty board to have reasonable discussion (when you make up the direction and run with your own invented facts), I bid you Goodbye. Or is it Auf Wiedersehen? Or maybe Do svidanja. Hmmm or perhaps Ciao? Tell you what, just pick one and it will be your truth.
Cool, I want a beacon for my dog… and for my teenagers….
If you’re going to put yourself in a position that need a rescue. $500 to $600 is pretty cheap.
http://www.brickhousesecurity.com/beaconemergencylocator.html
#8 – probably more like y’all come back, now, y’hear. Liars country.