ELT removal consequences
There is one aspect which, to my knowledge hasn't been mentioned so far.
The AAIB appear to be recommending that the ELT is removed or disabled, at least on the other 787s. But in the AF447 disaster the ELT might have allowed the aircraft to be found sooner, had the batteries lasted longer. In fact IIRC there was a recommendation in the BEA final report that ELTs be fitted with batteries of longer endurance to give searching teams more time to locate an aircraft (worst case at the bottom of the ocean).
I appreciate that it was a different aircraft type, but surely the principle is the same. I imagine that if AF447 had never happened no one would be particularly concerned whether or not the ELT was fitted or working, but of course this isn't the case now.
Last edited by SRMman; 19th Jul 2013 at 10:26.