NASA to Crash Plane to Test Emergency Locator Transmitters

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Search and Rescue Mission Office will carry out a test plane crash next week to test emergency locator transmitters (ELT), NASA said in a press release.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – On Wednesday, the agency said it would use a Cessna 172, which will be dropped from a height of 100 feet to simulate a severe but survivable plane accident.

“The test will take place at the agency’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, where a research team has equipped the vintage 1974 airplane with five ELTs, two crash test dummies, cameras and data-collecting sensors,” the press release said on Friday.

General aviation and commercial planes carry emergency locator transmitters that should work in the extreme circumstances and broadcast a location signal in the event of a crash.