Orolia’s new aircraft emergency beacon uses Galileo service

Orolia’s Kannad Ultima-S emergency locator uses the Galileo Return Link Service. (Photo: Orolia)

Orolia is introducing a new product for commercial aircraft safety, the Kannad Ultima-S emergency locator transmitter (ELT).

The Kannad Ultima-S is designed to be installed in the cabin of commercial aircraft or in its life raft. It is capable of notifying the crew about the launch of a search-and-rescue operation via Galileo Return Link Service (RLS).

For passengers, installation of the Kannad Ultima-S means their flight can located accurately, with rescue following if an aircraft evacuation is needed.

Orolia’s Kannad Ultima-S ELT was developed under a two-year contract through the European GNSS Agency’s Tauceti Project. Orolia says this is the first beacon to use the Galileo RLS.

Other key features include:

• Certified to the new lithium battery regulations to avoid the risk of battery fires.
• A multi-GNSS receiver to accept multiple signals such as GPS and Galileo to detect the aircraft’s
  location faster and deploy rescue teams sooner than before.
• Dual activation modes: manually or automatically upon contact with water.
• An RLS option to notify the crew that the distress signal has been received and help is on the way (available on Galileo).
• Multiple configurations available to install in aircraft cabins and life rafts. With a rugged, compact, and easy-to-install form factor, both versions can be installed through a carry-off bag or a mounting bracket and require little storage room.

“Orolia is dedicated to making air travel even safer than it is today with resilient positioning and aircraft location technology, featuring automatic, manual and remote activation modes to provide a complete ELT portfolio,” said Christian Belleux, Aviation Product Line director at Orolia. “We are excited to present aircraft operators with an affordable, reliable and state-of-the-art ELT solution for cabin modifications or linefit installations.”

The new ELT benefits from the proven Cospas Sarsat infrastructure, which is being upgraded to provide highly accurate location data and nearly real-time reporting to search-and-rescue operators through global coverage.

Kannad Ultima-S survival distress beacons complement Orolia’s Ultima family of next-generation ELTs, following the company announcement of the Global Aeronautical Distress and Safety System (GADSS)-compliant fixed Ultima-DT. Orolia provides aircraft manufacturers and operators with a complete solution for every ELT application.

Orolia will exhibit at the Paris Air Show June 17-20, Hall 2B booth E32, where both new ELTs will be displayed for the first time.