Pilot used cell phone, GPS to get rescue going

Global positioning system satellites came in handy for two Louisiana men Tuesday – saving them from spending the night in a field off Mississippi 465, or worse.

Tony Harper, 46, of Baton Rouge was flying his MD600N helicopter with passenger Colt James, 48, of Boyce, back to Baton Rouge after looking at property in Grenada when the engine failed, forcing Harper to land the helicopter on a muddy logging trail in Issaquena County, past Eagle Lake, said Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace.

Local 911 dispatchers received a call from a friend of Harper’s in Baton Rouge giving the GPS coordinates of the helicopter.

&#8220The pilot called a friend and said, ‘We don’t know where we are except for these coordinates,’” Pace said.

More than two dozen GPS satellites are in medium Earth orbit, transmitting signals allowing GPS receivers to determine the receiver’s location, speed and direction. The receivers can be bought inexpensively, and provide precise location information anywhere on the planet’s surface.

The system has come to be an everyday luxury for many, including the Sheriff’s Department, Pace said.

&#8220Every vehicle and everything I have rolling – 26 uniformed patrol cars, seven investigators’ vehicles and three patrol boats – has detachable GPS so the deputies can take it with them if they need to,” Pace said.

Since 2005, the department has made reports of traffic accidents based on GPS coordinates directly to the Department of Public Safety in Jackson, Pace said.

&#8220That’s the original reason we decided to equip our vehicles with it, but clearly, it helps with situations like this,” he said.

Deputies hurried to track the GPS information given from Baton Rouge, not knowing if Harper was injured or trapped.

Without flare guns or any other signaling device, Harper called 911 on his cell phone.

&#8220He was literally having to stand on top of his aircraft to get phone service,” Pace said.

A dispatcher contacted Pace via radio to let him know the pilot was on the phone and that he was reporting no injuries or smoke or fire coming from the damaged aircraft.

&#8220Dispatch, ask them if there is a number where I can contact them directly,” Pace said. &#8220And while you have them, ask them if they can hear my sirens right now.”

With Harper giving feedback on how close he thought the sirens were and from which direction they were coming, Pace and his deputies found the fallen helicopter about an hour after the original call to 911 at 1:45 p.m.

Since the first experimental satellite was launched in 1978, GPS has become a heavily used around the world. It is a key component in navigation systems available in newer vehicles.

The system was first designated at full operational capacity in 1995. GPS also provides a precise time reference used in many applications including scientific study of earthquakes and synchronization of telecommunications networks.

Developed by the Department of Defense, it is officially named NAVSTAR GPS (Navigation Satellite Timing And Ranging Global Positioning System.) The satellite placement is managed and maintained by the Air Force 50th Space Wing at a cost of about $400 million a year, according to wikipedia.com. GPS is owned and operated by the U.S. government as a national resource, meaning it is free for civilian use as a public good, a perfect example played out Tuesday.

Harper, who has been flying for 16 years, said landing the helicopter with engine loss is a skill he learned years ago, but has never had to use.

&#8220It was standard emergency skills, but I’m glad I learned how to do it,” he said.

&#8220He was clearly a very skilled pilot, and there’s no doubt the GPS helped us locate them quickly,” Pace said.

Harper made note of the GPS location of the site of the crash so he could return to the scene to retrieve the helicopter, which sustained damage to the rotor blades and the tail.