I don't have the luxury of operating in an area that has good cell phone coverage, as some do. And I will put out the best advice I can for the installation of safety equipment. It's my job. Is a 406 ELT the be all/end all for rescue commo? Of course not. Rescue commo needs to be a layered approach. An ELT (required by regs), a PLB worn on the person, and a cell phone (if even viable in your area) or sat phone would be a good battery of equipment.
-ELTs are REQUIRED equipment as per FAR 91.207. There are some very slim exceptions but for almost all of us here, it's required. A properly installed ELT will activate upon an aircraft crash and operates whether the souls on board are unconscious or unalive.
-A PLB worn on the body is a great addition to the ELT. They operate on the same 406 mhz system as the ELT and have the advantage of being attached to a (hopefully) live body. That means you can turn it on/off and the signal will follow you if you need to relocate from the crash site. Some have features such as messaging that can be helpful.
-Voice commo. If you have the luxury of flying where there is good cell phone coverage, I won't need to tell you to keep your phone on your person and fully charged as you already do this. If you fly into or are planning to fly into actual remote locations, consider carrying a sat phone. Being able to call for or direct help into the crash site can be invaluable. Think about life threatening injuries to a passenger and being able to describe those injuries to medical personnel who then give the proper medical equipment to the rescuers for the FIRST trip into the crash site.
Are there limits to each of these systems? Yes, that's why we have redundant systems in aviation. But consider: For anyone arguing whether an ELT is 'worth it', I point out the requirements of FAR 91.207 and my statement 'properly installed'. Also, after 21June95, 121.5 mhz ELTs became illegal for new installs. That means that for nearly 28 years all new installations were required, by law, to be 406 mhz ELTs. The reason for retiring 121.5 ELTs? SARSAT stopped monitoring 121.5 mhz. If you did not know what SARSAT is, it's the umbrella organization that oversees rescue operations for North America, specifically the U.S, land, sea, or air. If you currently have a 121.5 ELT, remember that while technically not illegal, you've had 28 years to get rid of it and SARSAT isn't listening for it anyways. If a local entity even monitors 121.5 mhz anymore it's most likely used to tell people that their ELT is activated in the tie down area. Their main bad point? They have limited range. Even more limited in hilly or canyon terrain.
If you are a new operator or uneducated on rescue ops, consider whether you want one of your primary rescue signals to be an old frequency with limited usefulness or a properly installed ELT which has the ability to ping a satellite belonging to the primary rescue coordination center for your area? Please opt for the best equipment for the job. Believing lines such as 'I think I have shown that 121.5 is monitored and I think it is quite likely that a 121.5 beacon signal will be reported' can get you killed.
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