This is an exciting breakthrough, and totally "common sensical" in our view. Until now, the state of play has been - it's an ELT, or it's nothing.

Naturally, passenger fee-paying aircraft have had to comply by having an ELT installed. For the rest, it was a case that you were not required to carry a beacon of any sort. But, if you wanted to carry a beacon by personal choice, it had to be a fully type-approved ELT, along with its hefty £1,500 price tag!

Result: No matter how safety conscious a private pilot may be, the investment in this sort o safety equipment was just too much to justify.

This ruling means that the passenger-carrying aircraft still needs to comply with an approved ELT, and quite right too. BUT, for those willing to invest in their own personal safety - a PLB will do!

When we say a PLB will do, the main points seperating our favoured McMurdo Fastfind Plus GPS PLB from an approved ELT are:

• ELT's have a crash-switch, so automatically activate on impact. Whereas a PLB can only be manually activated.
• ELT's have a hardened casing to survive the impact. PLB's do not

But let us offer you a couple of benefits fighting the PLB case:

• McMurdo PLB's have exactly the same 406 & 121.5MHz technology inside them, fully approved by COSPAS-SARSAT, that will get you identified and located within minutes of activation, anywhere in the world. We tested a Fastfind Plus GPS PLB ourselves - click here to see how we got on. They work just as well as ELT's, and there is no compromise in performance. 
• PLB's are totally portable. If you ditch at sea, and the plane sinks, the ELT goes down with the plane. The PLB stays with the person
• With regard to the crash-proof capabilities of the Fastfind. It may not be to the standard of an ELT, but it's still pretty hardy. If there's an impact that takes out the PLB, we'd say the pilot and passengers are unlikely to survive!
• Best part: the PLB is a fraction of the price!

Result: the safety conscious pilot is now likely to invest, and lives will DEFINITELY be saved.

CAA SafetySense Leaflet 21b states:

"Available data from both UK and USA indicates that 88% of controlled ditchings are carried out with few injuries to pilots or passengers. There is no statistical difference between high wing and low wing aeroplanes. However, despite most ditchings being survivable, approximately 50% of survivors die before help arrives."

At JK Max, we are totally commited to the safety of lives at sea. Infact, safety of life FULL-STOP! We've seen death and serious injury that could easily have been avoided had a PLB been available. We've also seen the absolute elation of those who have been rescued, thanks to PLB technology and COSPAS-SARSAT. This is the passion that makes us the UK's no.1 McMurdo PLB dealer, and arguably the most knowlegeable.

Please feel fee to email us with your questions and comments on this subject. At this stage, we're not starting up a forum. Our experience has proved that forums tend to consist of what people think and not necessarily what they know! That said, if we do get enough feedback, either good or bad, we will set up a seperate webpage, and publish your comments, having okay'd it with you first.

Click on the respective picture below to see details of the McMurdo Fastind PLBs. Budget naturally dictates, but we highly recommend the Fastfind Plus GPS PLB. See the results of the test we performed by clicking here. You'll be impressed!

It's a proven lifesaver!