Never flown an "N" reg aircraft is it a standard FAA policy that all "N" reg aircraft have to have an ELT?
I think it is ! All the a/c I flew in Canada has an ELT. I was surprised on returning to the UK to find the opposite, i.e. most a/c don't have an ELT ! That said, I was once involved in a SAR whilst paradropping as LATCC called to see if I could see a downed a/c as they were picking up an ELT. I tuned into 121.5 - kinda eerie blip blip noise and then I spotted smoke ! Turned out to be a bonfire !! Think the source was eventaully traced to a hangered a/c.
Anyways, back to thread. Hope Steve is found safe and well. Firts thing that went through my mind was if he had crashed surely they would have picked up an ELT, unless of course it was destroyed/malfunctioned.
CG.