LeSving wrote:
A PLB is the right device for boaters and hikers, but not for light GA. When flying at remote locations, a PLB in addition to the ELT is not a bad idea.
Agreed.
We’re at risk of getting bogged down in FAA-speak semantics, but “approved personal type … emergency locator transmitter” is widely interpreted as including a PLB which complies with the relevant (Cospas-Sarsat, etc.) standards and, in particular, with sub-part H of Part 95 of the FCC rules. I’m not aware of any great enthusiasm on the part of the Feds to argue otherwise in court, but any attempt to do so would fail the custom and practice test.
From a practical point of view, ELTs are so unreliable that I would only consider one as a backup to a PLB for a typical light airplane, not vice-versa.
Related question in this context: What’s the cheapest ELT available in Europe (part cost only) that fulfills the ELT requirement?
Ultranomad wrote:
Under Part-NCO, a GNSS-based PLB is a valid substitute for ELT on light aircraft. As far as I remember, Netherlands deferred its implementation, but only till 2017 (?)
Is there a list of derogations by country?
For Hungary I found this officially looking document on a non-official site, but it has nothing for Part-NCO.
Also, does this mean that ELT (or PLB) would be compulsory in countries where it currently is not? Most Hungarian planes do not have one AFAIK and I do not hear any discussions about the necessity to equip them so, in contrast to the frequent talk about 8.33 radios.
Zorg wrote:
Related question in this context: What’s the cheapest ELT available in Europe (part cost only) that fulfills the ELT requirement?
This would certainly be interesting to me as well. Also, a good PLB (would be my preference over an installed ELT) recommendation would also be appreciated.
a PLB in addition to the ELT is not a bad idea
It is never a bad idea to add security enhancements – but where is the end? I find it bad enough to have to get an ELT installed to enter into certain airspaces – if I really have to then I am not going to add the extra cost and hassle of acquiring a PLB on top. Though I would prefer a PLB over an ELT every time – if things ever go pear-shaped, I much prefer the finding of my body over the finding of the airframe. Or what remains of either. And the more so as ELT’s are reported to be little reliable, though I should be glad to see some source for that – the things do pass certification, don’t they?
Jan_Olieslagers wrote:
And the more so as ELT’s are reported to be little reliable, though I should be glad to see some source for that – the things do pass certification, don’t they?
Well, if aeronautical certification is anything similar to medical device certification, a field that I am intimately familiar with, I would not think that certification means anything in relation to real-world reliablity.
LeSving wrote:
A PLB is the right device for boaters and hikers, but not for light GA. When flying at remote locations, a PLB in addition to the ELT is not a bad idea.
Why not? For my situation (every trip I do must require a reasonably long overwater flight, being based on a small island), an ELT is almost useless as it will go to the bottom of the sea with the aircraft. The only useful beacon is one that is attached to me personally, in other words, a PLB.
For Switzerland, the ELT requirement curiously doesn’t apply to homebuilt aircraft.
While I don’t understand the rationale of that, I’m certainly not complaining. ;-)
I have looked through all the AIPs available through the AIP browser in the Autorouter and also through the posts in this thread and compiled a map of ELT requirements across Europe. “No reference” most likely means no requirement, but since I could not be 100% sure, I used this softer title. Here is the “source code” for the map, in case anyone is inclined to make changes at mapchart.net without recreating the whole map.
Of course none of this is authoritative, since I may have missed something in the AIP or the requirement is not presented in section GEN 1.5 (like in the case of Switzerland and the Netherlands, so I only marked them because of posts here indicating the requirement).
