Unlikely source emits international distress signal

By The Associated Press

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive Most read articles Most e-mailed articles

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Chris van Rossman's flat-screen Toshiba TV came with a built-in VCR, DVD and CD player.

Still, the 20-inch color TV aspired to higher things.

On the night of Oct. 2, it began emitting the international distress signal.

The 121.5 MHz frequency signal was picked up by an orbiting search-and-rescue satellite, which informed the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia.

Before long, van Rossman heard a knock at his door.

Outside were men in Air Force uniforms, a Corvallis police officer and a Benton County Search and Rescue deputy.

The international distress signals usually are emitted from electronic locator transponders that help search-and-rescue workers find overturned boats or crashed airplanes.

It's said that more than 90 percent of these signals are false alarms, but each one is checked out.

When Langley Air Force Base personnel received the signal, they got on the horn to the Civil Air Patrol, an all-volunteer auxiliary to the Air Force, who contacted Benton County Search and Rescue Deputy Mike Bamberger for assistance.

"My initial thought was, 'Oh, it's the airport again,' " Bamberger said.
 
From time to time, Bamberger is dispatched to the airport to locate a transponder in a plane that has been bumped by a mechanic or set off by a rough landing.

But this case was different: The signal was coming from a Corvallis apartment building.

"I have a pretty spotless record, so I wasn't overly concerned — just a little confused," van Rossman said. "The police officer asked if I was a pilot or had a boat or anything. I said 'no,' and they moved on."

After checking in with van Rossman, the group continued the search.

"We narrowed it down to a spot on the wall in the hallway," Bamberger said. "Whatever was behind that spot is what it was."

They knocked on van Rossman's door again, and the signal abruptly stopped.

"When he answered the door he turned off the TV, and the guy in the hall said, 'It just stopped,' " Bamberger recalled.

An inspection of the television confirmed it was the source of the signal. "Their equipment was just bouncing everywhere as they turned it on and off," van Rossman said.

Van Rossman was instructed to keep his TV turned off or face fines of up to $10,000 per day for emitting a false distress signal.

He's not taking any chances and is keeping the television unplugged just in case he forgets.

He has a DVD player on his computer and, besides, he mostly likes to watch public-broadcasting programs, especially "Arthur."

"I find other stuff to do," van Rossman said. "It's not too important."

"We have never experienced anything like this before at Toshiba," said Maria Repole, director of public relations at Toshiba.