All...
Though they don't have FDR or CVR, the Lockheed P3C Orion military airplane carries a self-deployable locator beacon that will separate from the airplane when either one of several mercury bulb crash detectors breaks, or the pilot selects it's release.
It's located in the vertical stabilizer, right side, and is spring loaded into place, and the deployment simply releases the catch and the beacon releases with force (away from the airplane), and is aerofoil shaped to allow it to 'flutter' down to the surface whilst transmitting on both 121.5 and 243.0, which it will continue for several days.
Sounds like a great idea...these were fitted to P3Cs from about the early 1980s.
Cheers...FD...
