germb747
Well-Known Member
No, sir. I was not referring to TWA800. Nice try. I'll stop here.
ACARS online
- Thread starter madmax
- Start date
No, sir. I was not referring to TWA800. Nice try. I'll stop here.
Cptnchia
Dissatisfied Customer
So you're saying that either a civilian cargo aircraft working for the US Govt or a US Military transport was shot down or damaged with a SAM in the last 20 years and there is no news about it outside of secret govt circles? The only other incident I can remember was the Iran-Contra plane which was loaded down with munitions, but I don't remember him being shot down, thought he just crashed. Could be wrong though. If that is it, I stand corrected.
Old Pete
Cockpit Authoritarian
I remember it being in the news. And please don't tell me you think Wiki is be all end all reference source of information.
surreal1221
Well-Known Member
NC_BE300
Well-Known Member
LOL!!!! This is a funny, yet very tttrrruuueeee statement.
Alright, now who spilled the coke on the keyboard????? Fess up!
Cptnchia
Dissatisfied Customer
No, I don't even really like Wiki, but I just don't have the time nor inclination to do a more thorough job in researching for this thread. It's Opening day and this beer isn't going to drink itself.
Rocketman99
Frozen Guppy Manipulator
Willing to bet the reference was to a C-5 incident a couple of years back...considering the poster...
xpanterica
New Member
Actually... talk to any of your buddies who are into amateur radio.. (you know the type, the long whip antenna on their car, handheld radios strapped to their belt...) they've been decoding text going to pagers since before there was ACARS. Of course, these days, who carries a pager operating in the 900MHz band? Same idea, though.
sopdan
Well-Known Member
Looking it up on the internets isn't as cool as hooking your own scanner up to your computer and using ACARSD to decode the messages. 
The trick is to have the squelch open all the way, as the transmissions are very short and the scanner may not pick it up otherwise.
Okay, I admit I've done it (scanner method)... but only for one afternoon about two years ago.
Two second search on google brings us the following (ie not super-secret)
129.125 Tertiary North American freq
130.025 Secondary North American freq
130.425
130.450
131.125
131.550 Primary North American freq
131.725 Primary European freq
136.700
136.750
136.800
The trick is to have the squelch open all the way, as the transmissions are very short and the scanner may not pick it up otherwise.Okay, I admit I've done it (scanner method)... but only for one afternoon about two years ago.
Two second search on google brings us the following (ie not super-secret)
129.125 Tertiary North American freq
130.025 Secondary North American freq
130.425
130.450
131.125
131.550 Primary North American freq
131.725 Primary European freq
136.700
136.750
136.800
HeyEng
Well-Known Member
Roger...
OK, I have gotten a lot of slack about this. The only point I was making was that in this day and age, lots of information is readily available. I am just not so keen on the information being so readily available, in particular the flying I do...which is for the Air Force. Sure most of the time we fly a bunch of nothing, but on occasion we have some "interesting" items on board. I do my best to be think and act with "operations and information security" in mind but then websites like this totally defeat the purpose. I am not for censorship in any way...I was only commenting that I am not a huge fan of it.
And Surreal...If you KNEW what terrorists do to get intel, you'd probably be surprised. I know when I have our stupid intel briefings, I learn something new every time....and it surprises me.
HeyEng
Well-Known Member
From: http://www.afa.org/magazine/Feb2004/0204world.asp
[FONT=arial,verdana,helvetica,sans serif][FONT=arial,verdana,helvetica,sans serif]SAMs Hit Aircraft in Iraq[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,verdana,helvetica,sans serif][/FONT][FONT=arial,verdana,helvetica,sans serif]In the past two months, surface-to-air missiles apparently hit two USAF aircraft—a C-17 on Dec. 10 and a C-5 on Jan. 8—as they took off from Baghdad Airport in Iraq. Both aircraft made emergency landings and no one on board was injured.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,verdana,helvetica,sans serif][/FONT] [FONT=arial,verdana,helvetica,sans serif][/FONT] [FONT=arial,verdana,helvetica,sans serif][/FONT] [FONT=arial,verdana,helvetica,sans serif][/FONT] [FONT=arial,verdana,helvetica,sans serif][/FONT][FONT=arial,verdana,helvetica,sans serif]Sixteen persons, including five crew members, were aboard the C-17, and 63 persons, including 11 aircrew, were on the C-5. The C-17’s No. 2 engine was hit and exploded shortly after takeoff. An Air Mobility Command investigation team has not concluded its probe, but it’s possible that the transport was hit by a SAM. The aircraft commander, Capt. Paul Sonstein, with the 62nd Airlift Wing, McChord AFB, Wash., said he knew they were hit by something big. “The impact just shuddered the plane,” he said. “I thought we were hit by something; I didn’t know what, but I knew something got us.” The experience was much the same for the C-5 crew. The huge airlifter had barely left the runway when its No. 4 engine exploded. The C-5 belongs to the 60th Air Mobility Wing, Travis AFB, Calif. Air Force officials said that initial reports on the C-5 emergency definitely pointed to “hostile action from the ground.”[/FONT]
[/FONT]
Cptnchia
Dissatisfied Customer
Thanks, I stand corrected. However, like I said also, the beer drinking and baseball watching was far more important than the interneting. I tend to also core dump anything I see or read about the USAF. As a former brat who had two serving parents who were "slightly" pissed that I ended up a Marine, its only natural!
HeyEng
Well-Known Member
Yes, beer drinking important, JC, not so much (sorry Doug) and yep, I look forward to the AF brain dump...
mtsu_av8er
Well-Known Member
Rocketman99
Frozen Guppy Manipulator
Yeah, I mean, look what they did to LLoyd!! 
Galaxy, I saw the PPT presentation on that incident after it happened in our weekly intel beefing. Did I read right - you say you were actually on that flight plane? That must've made one interesting day...
Not coincidentally then, I'm betting you know some buddies of mine that were C-5 drivers at Travis.
Galaxy, I saw the PPT presentation on that incident after it happened in our weekly intel beefing. Did I read right - you say you were actually on that flight plane? That must've made one interesting day...
Not coincidentally then, I'm betting you know some buddies of mine that were C-5 drivers at Travis.
HeyEng
Well-Known Member
No, luckily I wasn't on that plane..although the C-5 community is a pretty small one and I was stationed with a couple of the guys that on board. Not any fun...not at all. I would tell a couple stories of "really close calls" but then I'd have to kill everyone who is on the internet...and that is a daunting task!
Chief Captain
Well-Known Member
Galaxy, glad to hear nobody was injured in those incidents, but would you not say that those are just some of the risks associated with flying for the armed forces? Every flying job has a drawback. Safety is the biggest one in military flying. I'm sure those men and women thought about the danger before joining the service. Civil pilots also weigh the drawbacks of flying before going into it.
Yes it is sad that negative elements will use information against the peace-loving people of the world, but please, let's not go down the path of blocking information. That will only push us back into the dark ages of technology.
Yes it is sad that negative elements will use information against the peace-loving people of the world, but please, let's not go down the path of blocking information. That will only push us back into the dark ages of technology.
germb747
Well-Known Member
One of the reasons the death toll isn't any higher than it is---because we try to take some common-sense measures to mitigate the risks. Simply saying "I joined the military so I accept the risk" isn't good enough. I owe it to my family to do everything in my power to come back in one piece. One of the measures we take is to release operational information only to people who need to know it.
HeyEng
Well-Known Member
Thank you very much.
I obviously understand the risks...especially in an airplane that weighs almost 800,000 pounds and is over 200 feet long. It is risky to fly into those environments. All it takes is a couple of guys with Wi-Fi and text messaging to say "hey, there are at X and will be at X at X". Like I said, I am all about freedom of information, but sometimes it pays to be prudent in how easy it is to get the information.
I have tried to make my point at least 3 times, and really to no avail, so instead of rehashing the same argument, I'm out. I said my piece so now it's off to the lav and see what I can stir up.
No, luckily I wasn't on that plane..although the C-5 community is a pretty small one and I was stationed with a couple of the guys that on board. Not any fun...not at all. I would tell a couple stories of "really close calls" but then I'd have to kill everyone who is on the internet...and that is a daunting task!
Too fast for YOU Mr. Jones!