by Paul K. Sanchez

Of all the things that we as pilots would want to use least, our emergency locator transmitters, or ELTs, have to rank near the very top. And, because they have earned a bad rap over the years—they often don’t work when needed most—ELTs have become a sore subject with pilots and aircraft owners.

It doesn’t help that ELTs were an imperfect technology when they were mandated by Congress (see the sidebar on the opposite page). Nor does it help that they generally are installed at the rear of an aircraft where they are most difficult to access and where they are likely to survive a crash—and where they…