Although I fly with an ELT, they are not a guarantee that the aircraft will
be found because of it.

I am a member of a Search and Rescue team and have been involved with the
finding of a number of downed aircraft. The two cases where the ELT
survived the crash was where the crash was next to the airport, and were not
needed.

In the fatal air crashes I have been at, the ELT was destroyed and the
aircraft was only found with old fashioned search techniques. In one case,
the largest piece of the ELT was the size of a quarter.

If you are going to install an ELT, and expect it to survive a crash, it
must be installed so that it will survive, remembering that the antenna, the
feedline and the mounting are all part of the critical installation.

Just as important as the ELT is to let someone know where you are. Regular
communication during a flight with someone to update on your location and
intended flight path can be critical.

The chance of finding someone lost is greatly improved if the searchers know
where to start looking. If they do not have that information, it is like
looking for a needle in a haystack.

Colin