ELT
ELT like the one fitted on the ET B787 is an option. Many airlines do not have it. In my airline none of the B777 or early Airbus have it. So it makes little difference if you remove all the units fitted to B787. Mind you there are more portable units on aircraft located in the cabin that can be manually deployed. There are also a couple of units on the door slide raft. These are cylindrical in shape. I think the ones fitted to AF flight was one of these units. These are accessible to cabin crew in case they have a run away battery.
Another question if some one can answer. We hear that the fuselage skin of this ET aircraft is not holed as most of us concluded from the video grab. This is as per the AAIB. They have mentioned severe damage to about 8 feet of the skin. The smoke was first noticed by ATC who initiated the emergency action. If all the doors were closed, how did they notice the smoke? From a vent?