Becker Avionics is pleased to announce the selection of its new airborne BD406 Beacon Decoder by Era Helicopters LLC for their Search and Rescue and Emergency Medical Services (SAR/EMS) AW139 helicopter fleet. The BD406 is the most modern-lightweight, competitively priced 406 MHz beacon decoder/locator on the market.

Era Helicopters offers 24-hour FAA-approved, full-service SAR/EMS capabilities and turnkey utility solutions to offshore Oil & Gas companies located in the Gulf of Mexico as well as advanced life support paramedic resources.

The Becker Avionics Emergency Beacon Locator or Beacon Decoder, BD406, provides a unique tool for SAR organizations on land, on water and in the air. The high-performance product can be used in a fixed installation or as a portable receiver developed specifically to decode and navigate to 406 MHz Cospas-Sarsat capable beacons (PLB’s, SPLB’s, ELT’s or EPIRB’s), transmitting the 406 MHz signal with GPS information. The Becker DB406 provides the ability to directly decode the transmitted GPS location of a 406 MHz beacon data burst at long distances.

The AW139 has flight performance capabilities to execute deepwater maritime SAR/EMS operations at distances up to 200 nautical miles offshore. Era Helicopters is the first SAR/EMS operator to adopt the new BD406 Beacon Decoder, which will help their company during emergency responses to ensure the highest standard in helicopter SAR/EMS services in the Gulf of Mexico.

Brett Gardner, Director of Sales and Marketing stated, “The need to detect and locate downed aircrew, mariners and adventurers has always existed. Not being able to accurately pin-point both aircraft and crew can sometimes result in a lengthy and costly search operations, which can typically engage a number of Search and Rescue (SAR) assets. The new BD406 provides an immense improvement in identifying the precise location of a distress beacon when compared to older direction finding systems, in addition to a much lower hardware cost.” He continued, “With the increased population of 406 MHz beacons worldwide, including those with embedded GPS, there exists an urgent requirement for land or airborne SAR organizations, to be able to utilize their available rescue resources more effectively. The BD406 allows direct, real-time reception of the Beacon GPS Position during execution of a rescue mission. Due to its lightweight and compact size, the Becker BD406 offers maximum flexibility for installation, while providing the latest geo-location technology.”

The Becker BD406 consists of a cockpit mounted 2.25″ version, or a mobile battery-powered portable unit. The decoded GPS position is not degraded by poor RF signal quality and therefore improves the navigation accuracy and reliability during rescue missions. The decoder can display location data on it’s own self-contained LCD display, or on a cockpit display or integrated aircraft EFIS display, via the ARINC 429 output, while also displaying the bearing to the selected beacon. The BD406 can track and identify up to 49 individual beacon codes, and will display the 15 digit C/S Hex ID Code to enable rescue services to effectively allocate resources accordingly in trying to find the distress beacon.

Beacon Decoder (BD) 406    

As mentioned previously, the high-performance “BD406” is a fixed installed or portable receiver developed specifically to decode and navigate to 406 MHz Cospas-Sarsat capable beacons (PLB’s, SPLB’s, ELT’s or EPIRB’s) transmitting the 406 MHz signal with GPS information. The Becker DB406 provides the ability to directly decode the transmitted GPS location of a 406 MHz beacon data burst.

Also, the BD406 is a single block, lightweight unit with easy to use mode and scroll functions, all incorporated into an easy to read backlit LCD graphics display.

Features:

About Era Helicopters

Operating over 170 helicopters globally, Era Helicopters LLC, based in Lake Charles, LA, remains at the forefront of the oil and gas support industry with its technologically advanced helicopter fleet. Era’s primary business is to transport personnel to the shallow and deepwater oil and gas fields in the Gulf of Mexico and to support energy operations in Alaska. Era also provides flightseeing tours in Alaska, Search and Rescue/Emergency Medical Services (SAR/EMS) operations, supports fire fighting operations, offers environmental air support, and leases helicopters to third parties around the world.

For more information see: www.erahelicopters.com

Becker Avionics

Becker Avionics is a privately held high-tech company that develops, manufactures and distributes the latest communications, navigation, surveillance and search & rescue equipment for airborne and ground applications.

Becker Avionics has a longstanding history of over 50 years in providing equipment to General and Corporate Aviation, ATC, law enforcement and military organizations around the world. In order to support international market requirements the Company has established branches around the world. Becker Avionics supports an extensive customer base, such as, but not limited to

Eurocopter, EADS, Airbus, British Aerospace, ATR, CASA, RUAG, Xi’an Aircraft Corporation, AgustaWestland, Pilatus, German Air Force, Navy and Army, German Border Patrol, German Police, Austrian Army and Police, Swiss Air Force, Dutch Police, Security Civil, Irish Air Corps, Egyptian Navy, Indonesian Navy, Portuguese Air Force, US Army, US Air Force, US Navy and US Auxiliary Civil Air Patrol, Era Helicopters, etc.

For more information see: www.beckerusa.com or www.becker-avionics.com.