Most people consider pilot safety as everything needed until that pilot is
safe and sound at his intended destination. Pilots spend thousands of
dollars per year on auto, glider and life insurance. Yet there is this
whine about spending a few hundred dollars one time on a piece of equipment
that could mean the difference between life and death, in the event of a
crash. Handheld radios, cell and satellite phones are all excellent items
for your land out kits, but none of them are automatically activated during
a crash; nor will phones or radios be of any use if you become unconscious.



I had the misfortune of recently being involved in a search for a missing
pilot in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. It gave new meaning to
the old saying of “looking for a needle in a haystack”. Fortunately another
pilot going the other direction had passed and talked with the missing pilot
shortly before his communications ceased. This knowledge narrowed the
search area down to only about a 25 mile stretch of 12,000 ft mountain
peaks.



After landing ourselves, three of us got into a Mooney and flew back the 150
miles to the expected search area, where we had about 45 minutes of
remaining daylight in which to search. At this time, had we heard his
voice or an ELT signal on the radio, we would have had at least some idea as
to where the pilot had crashed. This would have meant search and rescue
efforts in force at the crack of dawn.



That evening, after noting that the glider was not ELT equipped, the sheriff
commented that he was not calling the Civil Air Patrol in, because they
primarily looked for ELT’s. It is sad to report that the deceased pilot and
glider were found the next day at about 12,000 msl by a California Highway
Patrol helicopter.



Pilots who fly in remote, mountainous and wilderness areas should reconsider
installing an ELT, if not for themselves, then maybe for their families who
may lose a loved one simply because they weren’t found in time.



M Eiler