PLBs (personal locator beacons) are no ELT
Oh yeah! I must have skim-read over that bit. So what exactly is the difference between a PLB and a Survival ELT? The Survival ELT doesn’t need to activate by impact. My PLB is registered to my aircraft and the registration form asked about the maximum number of passengers. Is the only real difference about whether it’s “crash-proof” (not that anything can ever be crash proof to the degree that it remains serviceable in all impacts)?
There are some diffences.
The ELTs must float with the antenna upwards, the PLB doesn’t have to do this, has smaller antenna as well. ELT must meet requirements to withstand a crash. The programming is different. A PLB is listed as PLB with a unique adress. The ELT is always programmed as an ELT, and outputs some data which correlates to the aircraft (aircraft serial number, tail number, ICAO adress or operator, depending on aircraft usage and national regulations).
The PLB link to your aircraft is a database link, this database might not always be readily available to other search and rescue teams then the one in the registered country.
PLB’s are not required to transmit on 121.5 MHz either. Some do anyway. This is important as most homing equipment uses the constant 121.5 MHz transmission after the 406 MHz signal gave the alarm and rough location.
The point of AntonyQ is also a valid point. When your antenna breaks (upside down) or is under water (upside down or sunk) these ELT’s can not function.
When your antenna breaks (upside down) or is under water (upside down or sunk) these ELT’s can not function.
That is a long standing “European argument”, along the lines that there are too few cases where a fixed ELT would save somebody’s life, given Europe’s generally densely populated land area, and an ELT which sinks in water is obviously no good.
While CFIT type accidents do normally kill everybody, they don’t always and I can think of two where a fixed ELT would have probably worked – assuming it was installed correctly and wasn’t some ancient shagged box. But then those people survived anyway. It’s a bit like the fact (it is a fact) that no airport-based fire service in the UK has ever saved a life in a GA accident. Suggesting that there should not be a fire service is a tricky argument.
Anyway, we have the regs to comply with – all the time there is a risk of a police check.
Every N-reg is required under FAA regs to have a 121.50 ELT (I believe US AOPA squashed the FAA move to mandate 121.50+406MHz) and nowadays one would install a 121.50+406 unit anyway.
Here is an example of an accident where the aircraft was fitted with an ELT and a working ELT might have saved some lives, but the ELT didn’t work. And no, it was not an old shagged device. It was a Kannad 406, apparently a broken power amplifier drained the battery prematurely…
I don’t believe that a PLB can be counted as an ELT.
An interesting aspect of this is that EASA’s Part-NCO specifically allows a PLB to be used instead up to a certain number of pax — 6 I think. Part-NCO has been in force since August 2013, but almost every state will apply derogations until August 2016 to postpone its effect. Nevertheless, if a state has already implemented Part-NCO, then its provisions must be recognised by the Dutch authorities in respect of that state’s operators when in the NL. The UK has an exemption to ELT carriage, though its extraterritorial effect is debatable.
from when onwards is mode s compulsery for G reg aircraft where can i find some docs about it?
they same for ELT 406 any infos?
Basically these are air space requirements. When you would fly to / from the Netherlands you would be required to have a 406 MHz ELT, and a mode S transponder if you want to fly above 1200 Ft or in controlled airspace.
It therefore basically depends on the operation, you should find the airspace requirements for the airspaces you would like to use.
If you go for a mode S transponder, I would recommend to go for a model which can do ADS-B out as well.
thanks i am aware about the airspace restrictions etc
i am looking for a document (if there is any) where it says that it is COMPULSARY for G reg to have mode S and ELT 406
I doubt you will find a document like that. For all new aircraft it is mandatory to have mode S and 406 MHz as part of their EASA certification. For existing aircraft (older then 2002 or something like that) these airspace requirements might be applicable.
You can fly still fly an aircraft without radio, transponder, nav lights, ELT is most (or all?) countries. Use is often very limited.
For ELT, see European Commission Regulation 800/2013 – specifically, section NCO.IDE.A.170 for non-complex aeroplanes and NCC.IDE.A.215 for complex ones.
