WASHINGTON – Environmental satellites with search-and-rescue tracking capability helped save 171 sailors, hikers, downed pilots and others across the country last year, including 15 people in five incidents off the New England coast.

“New England is one of our more active areas,” said Lt. j.g. Daniel Karlson, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration operations support officer with the international Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking System, known as SARSAT.

The system’s most elaborate rescue off the New England coast occurred in May 2001, when the 50-foot sailboat Charlotte lost its mast about 380 miles east of Halifax, Nova Scotia, in strong winds and 20-foot seas. The vessel’s crew consisted of two Britons and one American, who were sailing from England to Canada.

The Coast Guard rescue coordination center in Portsmouth, Va., launched a C-130 Hercules long-range surveillance plane and contacted two commercial vessels in the area, the Anne Gret and the British propane gas ship Yarrow, to try to assist the Charlotte’s crew.

But neither ship was able to rescue the sailors because of high waves and heavy winds. An attempt to float a life raft to the three sailors failed.

A Coast Guard cutter was dispatched from Boston for the Charlotte, but Guard officials decided to request assistance from the 102nd Air Force Rescue Squadron based in Gabreski Airport, N.Y.

The Air Force launched a C-130 to find the damaged sailboat, an ANG HH-60 rescue helicopter to retrieve the three mariners, and a Marine Corps C-130 so the helicopter could refuel in flight during the long journey back to shore.

The three mariners were brought to Halifax International Airport in Nova Scotia.

“The fact that multiple assets were used from multiple agencies in such a long-range mission is a true testament to the effectiveness of present day search and rescue and the SARSAT system,” Karlson said. “No matter where you are, if you have a SARSAT beacon, we will find you.”

The SARSAT system is funded by four federal agencies: NOAA, which manages the satellite system; the Coast Guard, which executes most of the rescues at sea; the Air Force, which handles inland search and rescue situations; and NASA, which provides the system’s research and development.

“Because of the success we’ve had, it’s always one of the top areas in terms of appropriations,” Karlson said. “Our problem today is more in terms of getting other users to buy into using the system.”

The Coast Guard requires all commercial fishing vessels and merchant ships to carry an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon, or E-PIRB. But there is no requirement for aircraft, and some manufacturers have been slow to install the beacons in aircraft because of the high cost, Karlson said.

An E-PIRB, which is about the size of a Thermos, costs $700 to $1,200. However, installing one on a plane can run between $2,000 and $3,000, because of the need to install it in the plane’s tail where it is least likely to be damaged in a crash, connect it to cockpit controls and make other wiring changes.

A handheld version of the E-PIRB, called a personal locator beacon, will be available for the consumer market in July for entire United States. A pilot program in Alaska has let hikers use personal beacons since 1994. The devices, which are about the size of a cell phone or PDA, are expected to cost between $300 and $500.

“We’re going to need to educate users that there’s a lot of responsibility that comes with this device,” Karlson said. “It’s not to be used when you have a flat tire or something, because a cellular phone would be more appropriate. Also, it just sends out an alert; it doesn’t tell us how many people are in distress or what kind of distress they’re in.”