NTSB frets about emergency locator transmitter malfunction

Unfortunately ELTs fail in a large perecentage of accidents, due to antenna disconnect, fire , submersion in water, etc. Also a lot of companies put their entire ERP faith in the ELT, they do not supplement it with either passive or active flight following and the proper use of flight plans.
There are too many good, active traccking systems available out there that the ELT should be the only line of defence. It is also somewhat unfortunate that the Civil Aviation Authorities in each country such as the FAA or Transport Canada & ICAO for that matter, mandate the ELT as the mandatory requirement for SAR as they are not as effective as the miriad of satellite tracking systems that are lower or similarly priced and will provide the last known position as frequently as 1 minute and do not fail with the frequency of ELTs.

Amen, Alan! With my 16+ years as a SAR pilot, the statistics that come to mind are that 98% of ELT activations are false and that only 25% of all ELT's actually are activated/received in a crash situation.

(Add'l) I'm curious as to why the NTSB is now "fretting" about ELT malfunctions! These stats I just posted have been valid for many, many years and if the NTSB is only just now "fretting", I'd say they have a very big problem within their ranks. They should talk to SAR folks, or the AFRCC and its equivalent agencies.

Get rid of all mandatory ELT's. They are a waste of time and money. If a pilot wants something to find them they can get a personal locator beacon. Put it in their pocket and if they crash they can set it off. If they are injured so badly they can't activate the beacon they wouldn't last until rescue arrived anyway. The automatic activation of the current ELT's are what cause all of the problems. Better yet On Star could set up a paid service like the GM cars and if a pilot gets lost he can call for directions :)

Okay design and install a mount capable of 30 G'S. This happens often in a crash, this time it had some notables on board. Interesting to note is was a 406 MHZ unit, the FAA is apparently letting GA keep the 121.5 MHZ units.

Well after reading about this crash, its time to put several large tie wraps on my ARTEX ME 406 unit to provide some additional attaching security to the mounting tray. If you have one of these you can see what I'm talking about.

Past Civil Air Patrol member. Live in WV and have helped find planes the feds couldn't. Our most famous, a Cessna 414 missing for 7 years in the national forest. My 2 cents....make sure on annual it is put back to "ARMED". 2 ELTs we found were "OFF". I have been putting off the PLB for awhile, but will be heading to the Bahamas this Summer. Anyone field tested these? What's the best for the money?