Identifying the location of flight data recorders using a Smart Electronic Location Flare (SELF) following a maritime aviation accident

This paper seeks to describe an engineering study for accurately identifying the location of flight data recorders using the new concept of a Smart Electronic Location Flare (SELF). The paper utilises a generic maritime aviation accident sequence, where location and recovery of data are explicitly included as risk management controls against future accidents. The paper concludes with recommending a suite of functional requirements for the performance of a SELF in order to satisfy the operating demands in a generic maritime environment.