Avionics News May 2018 - 21

ow many of you debated this old
FAA orders ending authorization to manufacture or install
philosophical question sometime in your
any new 121.5 MHz emergency locator transmitters
life? Maybe in high school or a 100-level
but were, in balance, thrilled that another mandate
college philosophy course? And likely absent a satisfying
proposal failed: to stop using and ultimately replace
resolution for the question: If a tree falls in a forest and
ELTs broadcasting on 121.5 MHz - the ELT technology
no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
mandated by the FAA almost four decades ago.
As a philosophical brain exercise, processing the
Surprisingly, what most satisfied some in this crowd
question exercises old synapses
of business and private pilots:
about direct observation,
A failed proposal mandating the
knowledge, reality ... and sonic
replacement of the 121.5 MHz
SOME
PILOTS
AND
OWNERS
physics.
ELTs with new-generation 406
REMAIN FAR FROM PLEASED
That old question came back to
MHz ELTs.
AT THE FAA ORDERS
mind recently when hangar-flying
Today's only choices should a
ENDING AUTHORIZATION
with some visiting pilots. The
121.5 MHz ELT need replacement
TO MANUFACTURE OR
topic most cussed and discussed:
are finding an existing one to put
INSTALL ANY NEW 121.5
various Federal Aviation
in its place or a new replacement,
MHZ EMERGENCY LOCATOR
Administration mandates.
which means a 406 MHz model.
TRANSMITTERS BUT WERE,
Naturally, of course, automatic
When one of the pilots asked
IN BALANCE, THRILLED
dependent surveillance-broadcast,
the opening question, some in the
THAT ANOTHER MANDATE
or ADS-B, reigned in the
hangar challenged the premise that
PROPOSAL FAILED: TO STOP
USING AND ULTIMATELY
discussion as the latest example
no one is around to hear it.
REPLACE ELTS BROADCASTING
of a questionable mandate. As
The debate deteriorated from
-
THE
ELT
ON
121.5
MHZ
far as many pilots are concerned,
there, but the takeaway was clear:
TECHNOLOGY MANDATED
the direct benefits of ADS-B tilt
Many within the pilot population
BY
THE
FAA
ALMOST
FOUR
predominantly toward the FAA.
give no credit to the new
DECADES AGO.
Pilots flying aircraft already
technology ELTs for improving
equipped with a traffic avoidance
on the originals' shortcomings.
system and either weather radar,
Meanwhile, others want every
spherics detection or weather
chance, every hedge, to aid their
datalink feel particularly shorted. The main selling points
rescue in the event of an off-airport landing or accident.
to consumers - pilots, aircraft owners and operators -
For these aviators, that means nothing less than a 406
has long been the demonstrable benefits of ADS-B In:
MHz ELT.
Live traffic from the FAA's traffic information serviceThat 406 MHz signal will get heard almost immediately,
broadcast and nearly live weather, free for the receiving
one pilot volunteered - and that signal can carry the GPS
from the flight information system-broadcast.
coordinates of the accident site. That old ELT may get
While many pilots recognized safety benefits of the
heard, eventually, leaving your fate to, well, fate.
1970s mandate to install transponders, other mandates
Since no satellites monitor for 121.5 MHz - that ended
enjoyed less popular support. Others were, in the words
Feb. 1, 2009 - the fate of a pilot depending on the oldof one pilot, "ones that got away. One of those was the
technology ELT depends on the chance flyby of another
replacement for the 121.5 MHz ELT - the 406 MHz ELT,
aircraft monitoring 121.5 MHz, or a Civil Air Patrol
and the ongoing debate about ELTs - emergency locator
training session.
transmitters.
Continued on following page
Some pilots and owners remain far from pleased at the
avionics news

may

2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News May 2018