International Cospas-Sarsat Programme

'Pretty miraculous' - 11 rescued after pilot ditches plane in Atlantic

On 12 May 2026 at 1518 UTC (1118 EDT) an Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) was detected at 27 52.5N 79 29.4W, 60 NM southeast of Melbourne, FL.

It activated when an aircraft, with 11 people on board, crashed into the water after experiencing engine trouble and running out of fuel.

Coast Guard District 7 received the alert and coordinated with the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, which diverted a nearby aircraft to the coordinates that located the pilot and passengers in a life raft.

The Air Force then launched a helicopter to the scene, rescued the 11 people from the life raft, and transported them to awaiting emergency services in Melbourne.

11 SARSAT RESCUES

www.cospas-sarsat.int

Cospas-Sarsat was honored to welcome Mr. Toshiyuki Onuma, President of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization, to the Programme headquarters in Montreal, on 1 May 2026. The vital contribution of satellite-aided distress alerting to global search and rescue operations was discussed.

The visit highlighted the significant role COSPAS-SARSAT continues to play in saving lives, particularly in the aviation sector, through timely and reliable distress alert detection and distribution.

Discussions also focused on the latest ELT(DT) beacon developments, which are leading the way toward autonomous distress tracking and transforming the future of aviation emergency response capabilities. These next-generation technologies represent an important advancement in enhancing aviation safety and improving the effectiveness of global search and rescue coordination.

We appreciate Mr. Onuma’s interest and engagement and look forward to continued collaboration in support of safer skies worldwide.

Job vacancy announcement: https://www.cospas-sarsat.int/en/about-us/job-vacancy-announcement

The CDDR 2026 meeting was held in Belgrade, Serbia from 2 to 4 February 2026, hosted by the Civilian Aviation of Serbia and chaired by France, as the nodal MCC of the CDDR. More then 40 participants from 14 countries and the Cospas-Secretariat attended this event. Discussion among participants occurred on topics specific to Mission Control Center operations, and also included issues such as Uncorroborated Alerts, ELT(DT) False Activations, and emblematic 2025 SAR events.

Several onsite visits were organized by the host, providing the opportunity for participants to exchange views with people working in Air Traffic Services Units and Rescue Coordination Centers, as well as the Search and Rescue Helicopter Unit.

https://www.cospas-sarsat.int/en/11-system-overview/1635-2026-02-18-2026-cddr-meeting

In memory of Claude Gal

As we reflect on the recent loss of two dear figures in our Programme, we take a dedicated moment to share a tribute to Claude Gal, whose passing a year ago remains deeply felt as we continue the work he helped begin.

IN MEMORY OF CLAUDE GAL

By Daniel Levesque, Head of Secretariat (1987-2011)

Claude joined the Sarsat team led by Dr. Daniel Ludwig in CNES (the French national space centre) during the early stages of development as System Manager, responsible for the satellite 406 MHz SAR payload. This was in1980, and I had just joined the team at the end of 1979 and was impressed by his professional experience. This was pioneering work. Although the 406 MHz payload had been developed based on CNES experience with the Argos data collection system at 401 MHz, the specific environment of the SAR mission required further improvements both for the satellite payload and the newly developed 406 MHz beacons. Claude rapidly became the CNES team expert on all these matters. In 1983 he succeeded Daniel Ludwig as Head of the Argos and Sarsat Department in Toulouse; a position he kept until his retirement in 2004.

One of the challenges of the Programme was to ensure the compatibility (interoperability in technical terms) of the SARSAT and COSPAS satellite payloads which had been developed independently in the USSR and in France. In February 1982 a small team of experts led by Claude Gal was invited to conduct laboratory tests on the Cospas 406 MHz payload in Moscow to ensure it would operate as expected with the experimental 406 beacons.

After the Cospas-1 satellite launch on 30 June 1982, success was quickly registered at 121.5 MHz with the first rescue (the Ziegelheim SAR case). At 406 MHz the story was slightly different with severe interference detected in the frequency band. Claude played a leading role in the struggle to identify, locate and gradually eliminate these interference transmissions which were a serious threat to the 406-system performance.

Claude was a key leader in producing the first issue of the 406 MHz beacon specification, document C/S T.001, which was approved at the Technical Working Group meeting he chaired in Villefranche in 1986. It was his proposal to number the System documents using the C/S N.00X format still used to this day. His contribution to the Programme would become invaluable over many years as chair of the TWG and Joint Committee meetings, building on his considerable experience and his unique ability to reach consensus on difficult technical issues. In all these endeavours Claude was instrumental to achieving the success of this unique international cooperation. He continued to provide expertise to participants in the Programme after his retirement in 2004, as consultant for ESA on the MEOSAR project.

On a more personal level, I would like to acknowledge the constant support and availability of Claude during the 24 years of our cooperation in Cospas-Sarsat. His kindness to all and his calm and steady leadership are the highlights of these years of friendship.

Claude was a keen explorer of the diversity of the world, which he travelled frequently, beyond Cospas-Sarsat duties, in company of his wife Geneviève and his daughters. He passed away in February 2025 at the age of 82. Fortunately, Claude worked for many years to document the Programme history and to develop the video library, allowing his contributions to be available to future generations.

Farewell Claude, we miss you sorely.

My Early Memories of Dr. Vladislav Studenov – by Jim King

We will always remember our close friend and colleague, Dr. Vladislav Studenov, who passed away peacefully in December. I vividly recall Vladislav arriving in London, England in May 1989 to join Daniel Levesque and me as the third member of the Cospas-Sarsat Secretariat. He had been working at the Main Computer Centre of the USSR’s Ministry of Merchant Marine (Morflot). He told us of his harrowing voyage from Russia to England on a merchant cargo vessel in very rough seas. Both he, and his colleague who was joining Inmarsat, were so happy to arrive on terra firma.

He was looking forward to his family arriving in London some weeks later, and getting his wife Nellie, and their two young daughters, Natasha and Dana settled into their new lives. That too was an adventure for them to adapt to a new home, new schools, new language, new friendships, etc. Vlad was relieved once they were all settled in. My family had the pleasure of meeting his family on many occasions, and his and our young children all spoke to each other in a mixture of languages.

Vlad was so excited to be starting his new job and keen to take on the challenge as the Operations Officer, to plan, develop and update several system documents. Vlad was always enthusiastic and was a key player in every Cospas-Sarsat operational meeting, as he had to make sense out of the Operators plans and requests, so that he could document them in the meeting reports and incorporate them in the System documents. His favourite time was being at meetings with all the international delegates, who he viewed as his extended family.

The Cospas-Sarsat System continually grew over the years, and so did his workload, but that never slowed him down. Ultimately, he became the longest-serving member of the Secretariat when he retired after 28 years at the Secretariat in 2017. Since starting at CSC-2 and JC-2, he attended more that fifty Council meetings, over thirty Joint Committee meetings and numerous Task Group and Expert Working Group meetings and produced more than a hundred revised versions of Operational System documents.
Vlad was also an accomplished athlete and even played a role in the opening ceremonies of the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. For years he loved to have his early morning swim whenever he could fit it in.

After retiring from his work at the Secretariat, Vlad continued to support the Cospas-Sarsat Programme as an advisor to the Qatar Mission Control Centre and RCC (QAMCC/DJRCC) where he remained well known to delegates through his support in hosting several Programme and DDR meetings as well as his work to advance training initiatives.

His energy, enthusiasm and the bright smile he had for each of us will be sorely missed.

https://www.cospas-sarsat.int/en/11-system-overview/1633-2026-01-26-my-early-memories-of-dr-vladislav-studenov-by-jim-king

Cospas-Sarsat: the Early Years

What do satellites, beacons, and some very dedicated people have in common? The start of the International Cospas‑Sarsat Programme. We’ve got three short videos charting the early years — equal parts engineering, persistence, and “how did that even work?” Watch, laugh, learn, and maybe queue a standing ovation for the pioneers:

www.cospas-sarsat.int

Global aircraft emergency signals from ELT(DT)s now reach rescue services directly

The International Civil Aviation Organization ((ICAO), the United Nations body for regulation of civil aviation) has announced that Eurocontrol and the Cospas-Sarsat French Mission Control Center (FMCC) have made ELT(DT) data from aircraft worldwide available in the global Location of an Aircraft in Distress Repository (LADR).

For more details on this significant Cospas-Sarsat contribution to global aviation safety, see

Global aircraft emergency signals now reach rescue services directly Data sent autonomously by distressed aircraft integrated into global search and rescue coordination network by ICAO, EUROCONTROL, and French Mission Control Centre (FMCC) Global aircraft emergency signals now reach rescue services directlyMontreal, 12 November 2025 – Autonomous Distress Tracking (...

Make sure to register your 406 beacon... https://xkcd.com/3169/

imgs.xkcd.com

https://www.instagram.com/p/DPemH-PDtys/?img_index=1

At the 42nd ICAO Assembly, ICAO acknowledged 10 September as the Global Search and Rescue Day and confirmed it will encourage all stakeholders to recognize and celebrate this day. This initiative was made by Saudi Arabia who presented a Paper in the ICAO Assembly, which was co-sponsored by the Programme and supported on the floor by many States. 🔗 Link in bio to download our brochure for the Assembly. #ICAO #ICAOAssembly #ICAO42 #GlobalSARDay #CospasSarsat #SearchAndRescue #SAR #WeSaveLives #EmergencyBeacons #GlobalSearchAndRescueDay https://www.cospas-sarsat.int/images/content/articles/2025_Cospas-Sarsat_Trifold_Brochure_18_x_12_FINAL.pdf