Dear Editor,

This is in response to a front-page article in your April 6 issue titled “Lapses Hinder Rescue Teams Hunting For Lost Planes.” In this article, the “lapse” indicated was a difference in terminology used by the FAA and the U.S. Air Force. When the FAA reported to the Air Force that an “emergency beacon” was being received, the Air Force disregarded the report since they use “emergency transponder” to indicate the signals from downed planes. It seems to me that this is simply a case where the two organizations do not regularly correspond with each other which caused this mishap to occur.

Residents of LaGrange and the Troup County area should be aware of the efforts to circumvent these types of errors. Just recently, on April 15 and April 17, member of the Civil Air Patrol were performing search and rescue drills to help hone their skills in locating emergency beacons, or transponders. What makes these drills spectacular is that the Civil Air Patrol is not the only entity involved. In fact, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliaries, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the LaGrange Amateur Radio Club were all participants in the drill on the 17th. It is this multiagency involvement that prevent terminology “slip-ups.”

While these organizations hope that their skills are never put to use, they hope that they are prepared when the time comes.

Lee Becham

Ferrell Tatum Road, LaGrange

LaGrange Amateur Radio Club