GACA participates in 37th Search and Rescue drill

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The General Authority of Civil Aviation’s Air Navigation Services Sector (Aeronautics, Air Traffic Control) is participating in the 37^th Search and Rescue Drill as of Wednesday.
The drill, a part of the National Plan for Naval Disaster Readiness, is being conducted by the Joint Marine Rescue Coordination Center’s Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba Commission, with participation by all agencies in the plan.
Air Traffic Control is playing a major role in the drill, providing a mobile control tower, and deploying air traffic controllers who provide aeronautical support in the designated search and rescue zone and coordinate the movements of aircraft participating in the drill to and from the zone.
During the drill, Air Traffic Control will also report any and all distress signals to the Saudi Search and Rescue Center through satellites. It will also coordinate with other international centers and issue navigational alerts on the coordinates of the drill zone and designated altitudes.
The Saudi Search and Rescue Center had been established after the Council of Ministers approved the Kingdom’s joining of the International Treaty for Space System for the Search of Vessels in Distress and Search And Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking (COSPAS-SARSAT) and terrestrial alarm systems.
The center is located at the premises of the Jeddah Regional Center for Air Traffic Control at King Abdulaziz International Airport. The center uses COSPAS-SARSAT’s satellites to receive all distress signals, whether they come from personal locator beacons (PLBs,) emergency locator transmitters (ELTs,) or Emergency position-indicating radiobeacon stations (EPIRBs.) These devices are either activated manually, or automatically upon severe impact or when submerged. The center passes distress information on to search and rescue agencies through the Ministry of Interior’s Command and Control Center.
The Center also provides services to several neighboring countries.