HM Coastguard Coordinates search after PLB activated in Truro


HM Coastguard has been coordinating a search and rescue operation after a personal locator beacon was activated around 6.50am today (21 May) in the Truro area.

The PLB was registered and HM Coastguard have made contact with the vessel owners, who are safe and well. However, they confirmed the PLB, attached to a lifejacket, is not with the vessel, so a search is taking place to try to establish whether the PLB has been triggered by someone else.

Falmouth and St Agnes Coastguard Rescue Team, RNLI Falmouth inshore and all weather lifeboats and HM Coastguard Search and Rescue helicopter have been involved with carrying out a search of the area.


HM Coastguard is appealing to anyone who might have triggered the PLB accidentally this morning to come forward and let the Coastguard know they are safe and well.

James Instance, Duty Controller for HM Coastguard said:  ‘We believe the PLB might have been triggered accidentally or there’s a possibility that it may be faulty, which is why it is sending the alerts. We treat any beacon alert as a potential emergency and so will carry out a search and rescue operation accordingly, until we can establish another reason for the PLB alert going off. If you do set off a beacon accidentally, please do call HM Coastguard straight away to let us know as this allows us to establish that there is not an emergency.’
UPDATE: The search operation following the Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) activation was stood down earlier today. The PLB alert was confirmed to have come from inland, in the approximate location of a building in Falmouth Docks.
Further invesigations through the afternoon eventually led to the precise location of the PLB, where it was found in a shed in Falmouth Docks. 

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