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Teen girl found alive after Washington plane crash; 2 others feared dead
(CNN)A teenager whose plane disappeared over the weekend in Washington state was found alive and well on Monday, authorities said. Autumn Veatch, 16, was flying with her grandparents Saturday in a small, private plane. The aircraft left Montana, but never arrived where it was headed -- Lynden, Washington. (www.cnn.com) More...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
Amazing and awesome news for her family... so rare we see anyone survive what appears to be a CFIT crash...
Yep appears to be CFIT. Article I read this morning said the girl told them they broke out of clouds and there was the mountain.
That is about as close to CFIT that I have seen... She is lucky to be alive.
How often do ELTs work "in the wild" ?
For a standard 121.5 ELT the design criteria is that it transmit 48 hrs at 0 deg. Higher the temp would transmit longer...lower temp...the opposite. I'm thinking the age of battery would come into play also...4 yr old batteries don't have the same umph and staying power a a 1 yr old battery.
Those batteries I think are required to be replaced every 2 years, but that does not mean that everyone does. Depending on the vintage of the unit it could transmit on 121.5, 243.0, and 406 Mhz. It looks like the a/c was manufactured in 1971, so it could have any of the above listed depending on how the owner maintained his avionics package. I hate to say it but many pilots do not put much stock into the ELT as many see it as something they will never need, and many are very wrong on this.
Yeah you're last statement is right. I have known some of those pilots. Two years on replacement of battery is about right. I looked up reg and it said replace battery when it reaches 50% battery life or one cumulative hour of use. My 406 ELT lithium has a 5 yr life. I have it replaced at annual so I'm good.
Lets hope you don't need it anytime soon or ever.... That is one thing that when you get rid of that you never needed :) ... If you get my drift. :)