Record Breakers Goes Off Record

The world of aviation definitely differs from any other man’s field of specialization. Be it land transportation or marine navigation. Consider these as a matter of consideration, before an aircraft should embark on a flight, a flight plan should be filed with the local Civil Aviation Authority (e.g. FAA in the US). Flight plan refers to documents filed by the pilots or a flight dispatcher with the local Civil Aviation Authority which generally include basic information such as departure and arrival points, estimated time en route, alternate airports in case of bad weather, type of flight (whether instrument flight rules (IFR) or visual flight rules (VFR)), pilot’s name (usually includes pilot license no and date of expiration at the opposite side) and number of people on board. Electronic Locator Transmitter (ELT) is another thing, ELTs are emergency transmitters that are carried aboard most General Aviation aircraft. In the event of aircraft accidents, these devices are designed to transmit a distress signal on 121.5,243.0 megahertz frequencies (recently redesignated to 406 MHz). The mandate to have ELTs as standard equipments aboard an aircraft resulted from the 1972 loss of US representative Hale Boggs and Nick Begich in Alaska after an aircraft crash that was never found. By 1973, most GA aircraft had been equipped by ELTs. In July 2008, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) mandated that private and commercial airliners operating internationally should carry at least one 406-MHz emergency locator transmitter, according to ICAO standards.

Airplanes had been the most convenient choice of transportation by noted government officials and celebrities alike. Despite the move to make them as safe as possible and easily traceable in case of a crash as had been learned from tragedies involving it, there remain countless cases of lost aircraft which had been the subject of search and rescue and took time before being found, and in rare situations, they were never found and the loss remained a mystery. Imagine being such a celebrity, earning a name as a person who has excelled in life, whether it be in sports, performing arts, aviation or certain scientific milestones nobody has ever achieved. Your name earned you the status and your financial earnings allowed you to own and fly a plane, charter one for personal use or yet to fly one for another record attempt. Then with all such fame and prestige allowing the world to see you one last time after taking off somewhere along the route you suddenly disappear and could never be found. In the same scenario, I have here compiled interesting cases of renowned record holders who suddenly goes off record.