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Lost and found
In 1982, a small airplane searching for another missing aircraft was itself lost, deep in British Columbia’s Rocky Mountains. It had crashed in a very remote area, but the three passengers were lucky. The plane was carrying an emergency radio beacon, which immediately began sending out signals. These radio signals were picked up by a Russian satellite circling the earth, which transmitted them to a ground station in Ottawa, where the crash location was pinpointed. Search and rescue teams were sent right away, and the three survivors were saved.
This was the first search and rescue operation to use a high-tech international system called COSPAS-SARSAT. Since 1988, Canada, France, the United States and Russia have cooperated in running this system, which involves two orbiting satellites, ground receiving stations, and mission control centres that coordinate search and rescue activities. But the key to the system is the emergency radio beacon, an essential piece of equipment now carried by aircraft, ships, small boats and even individuals entering wilderness areas.
Canada Post recognizes our nation’s role in this international project with a set of four domestic rate (50¢) stamps honouring the important work of search and rescue. |
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