Electronics is my area of expertise.
OK
First, low-power devices pose little fire risk.
The two Mode S transponders on a typical commercial airliner have a 500W plus transmit power!
Something like a $150 SPOT beacon could report periodically, somewhat like a transponder.
...so yet another piece of equipment on board. Can we just have a reality check here. There are already means of satellite tracking aircraft. It is just that on this one occasion that means was disabled - possibly deliberately, but we do not know for sure, and if it was disabled by electrical fire then this whole argument gets a bit ironic..
When CVR and FDR became mandatory this fulfilled a clear purpose: Post accident analysis to find means to prevent recurrence. However, adding ever more kit to report on ever more rare events just does not make sense to me.
We have to assess risks and mitigation properly before we add our quick fixes.
but it's nuts not to track every airliner in the post- 9/11 era.
Maybe I am nuts, but to me that seems to have been an excuse for adding extra layers of surveillance on just about everything and everyone. Even since that fateful day the risk from terrorism remains one of the tiniest risks an individual (even an airline pilot) will face in their daily life.