I don't believe for one second that the issues of when it deploys automatically can't be overcome with today's technology. And false alarms are actually very common place for EPIRB activiation on other platforms such as Yachts, ships, etc.
Why was MH370 EPIRB never detected?
Any kind of catastrophic end for an aircraft should, simply trigger the EPIRB release that will be detected by satellite giving it's crash position.
This never happened for MH370.
This has happened with other commercial and military aircraft, notably some of the North sea helicopter crashes.
It seems to me that the current system of EPIRBS on aircraft and now perhaps Subs is fatally flawed and needs urgently reviewing.
Originally Posted by
pasta
Manually - yes, it's already been reported that the submarine has 2 EPIRBS.
The problem with an automatic system is, how does it "know" something disastrous has happened? It needs to be sufficiently self-contained to continue working in the event of a major systems failure onboard the submarine, yet well enough integrated to be able to figure out when to deploy. Even if you solve those non-trivial problems, the consequences of "false positive" deployment are very serious, even in peacetime.
Best wishes and hopes to those onboard, and to those engaged in the SAR operation, for a successful outcome.