Société.com: ECA Group launches a new distress beacon for aviation

Published on société.com, June 2017

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Written by Bertrand Dampierre

New innovative product

Just before the door opening of the International Air Show of Le Bourget, held from 19 to 25 June, ECA Group unveiled the launch of a new distress beacon for aviation. This Emergency Locator Transmitter, called ELiTe , designed and produced by the subsidiary of the Gorgé group, will be marketed from September 2017 onwards and will bring aviation players new features and advanced ergonomics. It is currently being certified to ensure that it meets the new international aeronautical standards. It is the first aeronautical survival beacon (ELT) to integrates both a GPS transmitter and an activation system in contact with water. This will facilitate the location of potential survivors of an aircraft that would have been forced into an emergency landing by triggering its location and alerting the Cospas-Sarsat Search and Rescue system. Its new ergonomics make it easier to use, install and parameterize, as well as maintenance operations.

Major advantages

Thanks to ELiTe , aircraft manufacturers, airlines, emergency and maintenance centers will be able to have a single transmitter, integrated antennas for a small footprint, direct connection to the aircraft's data via the standard Arinc 429 and a new generation energy block with a maintenance data display and energy autonomy level. This new product should enable ECA Group to consolidate its leading position in the commercial aviation market and opens the prospect of equipping more than 35,000 commercial aircraft in the next two decades. By ensuring the functions of fixed beacon and portable beacon in a single equipment, ELiTe  has indeed a major advantage compared to its competitors. As Gilbert Rosso, head of the ECA Group's Aerospace division, explained, "this allows airlines to gain operating efficiencies by managing only one product in configuration and maintenance". A practical and economical argument to which aircraft manufacturers and airlines should be sensitive.