gocaps16
Well-Known Member
So a few days ago, I was flying from Chesapeake, VA to Manassas, VA and apparently I was flying and my ELT was going off throughout the entire flight. I requested flight following and the controller asked me if my ELT was activated because to him there was an "annoying" sound whenever I keyed the mic. This was the first time that happened to me after flying over 15 some years. I had no indications (in the cockpit) illuminating it was activated. Apparently it was, so I continued. After landing and I switched over to ground freq is when I heard it. The alarm was going off. Everyone could hear it. It went off for about 5 seconds on and off. And of course, the ground controller was telling me my ELT is going off. What I don't understand is how it was activated. I never did accidentally hit the ELT switch in the cockpit, nor my landing was NOT rough. I called the tower on my cellphone after shutdown and gave them a heads up that I am safely on the ground and asked if this would be a problem. She knew it was a false alarm and thought a bad landing could have triggered it. Anyway, I didn't want search and rescue to be deployed and waste their time because an ELT accidentally went off falsely. I hear it's a very common occurrence. But I am no student pilot....well, instrument rating student pilot you can say. The flight back today was fine. I monitored 121.5 on COMM2 and seems like there were no problems.
What did I do wrong and what SHOULD I have done if this happened again? Should I have not continue my flight and fly back to my originating airfield?
What did I do wrong and what SHOULD I have done if this happened again? Should I have not continue my flight and fly back to my originating airfield?