jcjeant wrote:
This not supposed to be a floating device ?
Not a pilot, eh?
I've been around since ELT's were first required in the US. They have never been designed to float. As a matter of fact they are supposed to be installed securely in a section of the plane likely NOT to get crushed in an accident.
Detachable, floating "rescue beacons" are a more recent boat derivations of the aircraft ELT.
The ELT was originally designed to help find aircraft that crashed while NOT in radar contact OVER LAND i.e. "who knows where they crashed". As jet aircraft and airliners were assumed to always be on a flight plan / under radar observation, and as aircraft truly, rarely "fall out of the sky" the risk of not being able to find overwater flights was of minimal concern. Until recently US registered jet aircraft did not require ELT's to even be installed!
Is it time to update "crash locator" abilities / requirements? That's for others to decide. Even if new and upgraded units with oceanic "survivability" You can bet that EVERY airline will dig in its heels at the expense and will only do it grudgeingly if mandated.
C2j