rlime
Why don't aircraft carry EPIRBs similar to ships?
The Flight Data Recovery Working Groups Final Report at:-
http://www.bea.aero/en/enquetes/flight.af.447/flight.data.recovery.working.group.final.report.pdf
examined the practicality of new/retrofitting GELT (equivalent GEPIRB) and their conclusions are noted on page 20, clause 3.4 under Deployable ELTs with GPS position broadcasting. The following scores out of 10 (highest) were recorded by the group for this proposal:-
Technical Maturity = 9. The technology is mature. Fully qualified military system exists today and the path to civilian certification is easy. FAA TSOs are in place to support.
Equipage (Aircraft/Ground) = 6. New equipment would be needed on the aircraft, but the feasibility is proven on helicopters for over 30 years.
Cost = 1. The cost per aircraft exceeds $10K. Would only replace one existing ELT. The 2 ED-112 recorders would still have to be installed. The cost to design an aircraft-specific tray “only” for an ELT is not justified, since in that same tray a deployable recorder with ELT could be installed.
Applicability = 6. As it provides an immediate incident alert and notification of a downed aircraft, it increases the probability for wreckage localization and data recovery. The data recoverability is null. The contribution to localization was computed using the formula mentioned earlier (see link above).
Global Score = 4.45.
It is on the "to do" list, but implementation could be a way off.
mm43