Originally Posted by
rh200
This statement is regurgitated occasionally, but is it technically correct?
For starters they will only be successful when activated above a non conductive medium (not submerged in water).
And what about some examples? Are the cases that they supposedly didn't work, accidents where they met the technical requirements for the ELT to activate? Another words did the ELT perform to the technical standards, its just that the standards trigger points aren't correct?
If the ELT perform to the standards, then its not their fault.
ELT's should operate on excessive g. The Scully Hudson ditching showed that the g involved was not sufficient. Perhaps someone can come up with cases where ELTs fitted to airframes have been useful in alerting to a crash. Not other personal systems like Sarbe etc which I know work as I have been involved in rescues that were initiated by their transmissions.