With 121.5 no longer monitored, this ELT will be of relatively little use even if it functions in an accident. Even with a 406 MHz ELT, given the high failure rate you may not want to rely solely on this. Personal locator beacons (PLB) are now available for around $250 US, but require that someone survive in sufficient condition to operate it. Satellite trackers are now available at under $1000 US and these do not depend on aircraft based equipment to send an emergency alert. May be the best solution currently available. Given that all three can be had for less than the cost of a 406 MHz ELT a few years ago, it makes sense to combine them.
There was an accident here a few years ago in which a Lear Jet crashed in heavily wooded and somewhat mountainous, but not remote terrain. After the most extensive search in the history of the area the aircraft was not found. Two years later, the wreckage was found accidentally by hunters in the area. The aircraft did not have an ELT and was not required to. (Given the extreme crash damage, it is unlikely that an ELT would have survived and been functional.) The crew was killed on impact and a PLB would not have helped. The satellite tracker would likely have pinpointed the wreckage quickly.
Last edited by EN48; 7th Jun 2011 at 19:02.