Filing Those Position Reports — It’s Not for Big Brother

by Mike Casey, Provincial Safety Officer, CASARA Ontario

Position reports are considered by some pilots to be a nuisance and another instance of procedures infringing on their right to fly off into the wild blue yonder without a care or a worry. The thing is, if something disastrous should happen during the flight, search and rescue resources are deployed based on the last known position (LKP) and the destination.

In Canada, the primary search area is determined by drawing a line from the LKP to the destination, according to the intended route. A ten-nautical mile box is drawn around the track line. This is known as CSAD1 (Canadian Search Area Definition). CSAD2 expands the search area by another five nautical miles and normally occurs several days after the search has been initiated.

On a flight from Maniwaki to North Monetville Skypark, the CSAD1 would be 3980 sq. NM.

Allowing for refuelling, it is reasonable to expect 60 sq. NM to be searched per hour, based on the search aircraft being at 500 ft AGL and with a search width of 0.5 NM either side of the search platform. Allowing for six hours of good light per day and no weather conflicts, four search aircraft would require three days to cover the area.

In the meantime, family and friends are wearing out carpets back home as they pace back and forth with worry.

One position report, or relaying any changes in course, will reduce the task considerably and concentrate resources more effectively.

And one last thing: After making a precautionary landing in the middle of nowhere, dial up the guard frequency (121.50 MHz) and call out your situation. High fliers will gladly pass news and reports of your continued good health, position and intentions to FSS.

Fly Safe.