I got Alerting Service the other day on the way to Alderney. No idea what it means, but it doesn’t matter.
Peter wrote:
I got Alerting Service the other day on the way to Alderney. No idea what it means, but it doesn’t matter.
It’s supposed to mean that they push the button if you go missing. I didn’t know that UK ATC ever did that (i.e. no flight plan followup). But maybe it is different when you are actually talking to them.
You mention your fuel limit is 120L with 4 POB. It makes a short range, especially IFR !
Airborne_Again wrote:
I didn’t know that UK ATC ever did that (i.e. no flight plan followup). But maybe it is different when you are actually talking to them.
Added: Maybe they do follow up the flight plan if the destination airport has ATC?
Alerting service is referenced in CAP774, which then points to EU Regulation 923/2012. When you dig into that you see it’s as you’d expect: they call SAR if you go missing:
‘alerting service’ means a service provided to notify appropriate organisations regarding aircraft in need of search and rescue aid, and assist such organisations as required;
Scanning the rest of the document it’s something normally provided along with another service, such as flight information, basic, traffic etc which is why so few of us seem to have heard of it! Practically I agree with Peter that it’s no worse than what London provides on a basic.
I, too, have been offered “not above 2000ft” but I also asked for higher and received an assurance, during taxi, that it would come.
I think the alerting service as described above is an automatic consequence of failing to meet the ETAs setb on a flight plan, give or take a certain allowance. It is a regulatory sequence which puts SAR coordination on standby, then search etc. It has nothing to.do with UKs Basic Service, traffic service, deconfliction service, and procedural service. Or at least that is how I understand it.
I heard Alerting Service today overhead LFOM Lessay on the way to Jersey, scared the bejesus out of me again
One get to talk to Rennes going Jersey to Deauville or Rouen, even if it’s behind, can you give us negative ground speed check? 
@jujupilote yes, it’s 3hrs fuel which realistically is a 2hr endurance. The Channel Islands are about 1hr 30mins depending on wind and which airfield I’m going from.
That is four full-size adults though. Not many four-seaters do much better. More commonly I am two-up and thus have full tanks if needed.
