Lynn Lau
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Aug 20/01) - An American wilderness traveller set off a huge search and rescue operation last Thursday after he activated an emergency beacon meant only for crashed planes.

He had been delayed for his rendezvous with a float plane, and thought the beacon would help his outfitting company to locate him.

Instead, it triggered a $100,000 search and rescue operation involving about 40 people, a military aircraft, and a helicopter.

The man, a 50-year-old librarian from New York, who declined to be named, was just finishing a three-week solo canoe trip from Colville Lake to the Anderson River. He was supposed to be picked up at a spot about 200 kilometres east of Inuvik Aug. 15, but he had lost his compass and was at the wrong place.

When he realized Thursday morning that he had overshot his rendezvous point by about 20 kilometres, he set off his emergency locator transmitter, not realizing that such devices are only meant for downed aircraft.

Inuvik RCMP were already planning a search Thursday morning because the man had been reported to be overdue. But in the absence of any signs of an emergency, they were planning to wait a day or two until the weather cleared up.

"In the North, one day overdue is nothing, so we weren't really that concerned about him," said Staff Sgt. Mark Wharton of the Inuvik RCMP. He said that whenever a traveller is late arriving, police get local pilots to take a look during other flights. "If the weather had improved we would have already found him."

Meanwhile, the traveller's emergency beacon had alerted the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Trenton, Ont., and a Hercules aircraft was dispatched, with a military search and rescue crew to find what was believed to be a plane crash. The man was located and brought to Inuvik by helicopter, unharmed, around 4 p.m.

When he arrived, Wharton was there give him a talking to. "We explained that next time he comes up here, he should be equipped with a GPS (Global Positioning System) and a satellite phone -- that way next time he gets worried or confused, he can call whoever he likes," Wharton said. In the event of an actual emergency, he said, travellers should be equipped with a personal locator beacon, not the aircraft variety transmitter.

Back in Inuvik, the traveller was sheepish about his error when contacted Friday. He said he bought the emergency transmitter in New York 13 years ago and had always carried it with him on other trips to the North.

"I didn't realize an ELT is only for planes," he said. "It was the first time I ever used it and it will be the last time I ever use it. The only reason I set it off is I thought they would call the local town, and give the bearings to the local pilot. It horrified me when I saw the military aircraft."

When asked how he would plan differently the next time, he said he'd probably be taking a break from his trips to the North.