NTSB Urges Inspections of Emergency Transmitters

The inspections are the result of the investigation into the Alaska plane crash that killed Sen. Ted Stevens and four others.

Jan. 5, 2011

WASHINGTON --

Federal safety officials investigating the Alaska plane crash that killed former Sen. Ted Stevens and four others are urging inspections of noncommercial planes to ensure their emergency locator transmitters won't become dislodged in a crash.

The National Transportation Safety Board released a letter Wednesday to the Federal Aviation Administration requesting the inspections.

The single-engine plane transporting Stevens and his party from a lodge to a fishing camp slammed into a remote southwest Alaska mountainside on Aug. 9. There were four survivors, including former NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe.

NTSB said it was nearly five hours after the crash before searchers located the crash site, which was only 19 miles from where the plane originated. The emergency locator transmitter wasn't functioning.