PLT402: ELT Requirements
What code PLT402 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study ELT Requirements before your checkride.
Recall regulations - ELT requirements
What this means for your checkride
Most U.S.-registered aircraft must carry an emergency locator transmitter. Its batteries must be replaced, or recharged if rechargeable, after one cumulative hour of use or when 50 percent of their useful life has expired, and the ELT must be inspected every 12 calendar months for installation, battery corrosion, controls, and signal.
A working ELT aids search and rescue, so the FAA tests the battery-replacement triggers and the annual inspection.
Pilots track only the calendar. The battery must also be replaced after just one cumulative hour of transmitter use, such as after an inadvertent activation, not only at the calendar limit.
Where to study it
A code on your test report is an area of deficiency. An authorized instructor must review it with you and endorse that review before you take the practical test, and the examiner may revisit it during the oral. Study it until you can explain it out loud, not just recognize the answer.