L’usine nouvelle : Distress beacon triggers alert before airplane crash

Published on L’Usine Nouvelle, May 2017

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Written by Marina ANGEL 

ECA Group will be releasing a new generation of aeronautical distress beacons. The prototype made its first appearance at trade shows, the commercial version is expected by September 2017. Specializing in the development of electronic equipment, the company, trhough its recently acquired subsidiary ELTA, has been present for more than twenty years on the market of beacons of distress and leader on this Niche market. A captive market, since the presence of distress beacons on board aircraft was made compulsory by ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) in 1992 after the Mont Saint-Odile accident.

The great novelty proposed by the new ELiTe beacon is to be able to detect, very upstream, any abnormal modification of the behavior of the aircraft. In the event of a known alert, or even of pre-alert, the rescue can be prevented. "It would then be possible to trigger back-up protocols even before the accident, thus saving time or even saving lives," enthuses Éric Pautal, sales manager.

The innovation lies in the connection of the beacon to the aircraft's computer bus, with real-time access to all of the device's EDC data. No need to wait for the impact on the cabin to trigger the beacon automatically. "This will make it possible to trace, before the accident, the trajectory of the aircraft and to determine with better precision the area in which it is likely to crash," specifies Éric Pautal.

Learn more : ECA Group awarded contracts to equip 680 aircrafts with Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs)

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