Thanks for interacting in a meaningful way. It seems that by now first world countries would have enacted the kind of legislation that would require all commercial aircrafts to carry this simple technology? I thought we learned our lesson from the Malaysian Air plane that went missing? I guess not? How many more before governments start requiring this kind of stuff?
Well, a lot of factors come into play. The Malaysian aircraft didn't subscribe to the position reporting service for whatever reason. It is not required by legislation, but almost all the major airlines use it because it makes their operations more efficient.
But the flight in question here is on the small end of the spectrum. It is a 6 place airplane, high-performance compared to smaller single-engine aircraft, but it remains in the "general aviation" sphere instead of the air transport sphere. It would be cost prohibitive to require a small airplane to require the same equipment as jetliners.
Having said all that, technology is changing fast, and amazingly reliable systems are within reach of small aviation, too.
Leaving that aside, after reading more about what is known of this loss, I am fairly certain that air traffic control knew exactly where the aircraft was until it dropped below 2300 feet. That is, no doubt, where the search began. They probably had a pretty good idea of its speed and heading at that point, too.
If it plunged straight into the ocean, no amount of equipment would have helped locate it. If it did a controlled ditching, there is a high likelihood that ELT equipment designed in the 70s would have allowed it to be located.
There's a saying among aviators about wrecks: no point in speculating until the facts are known, but we will go ahead and speculate anyway. That's where the general public is at this point.
