As the futile search for a single-engine floatplane missing with four aboard in remote Katmai National Park and Preserve drew to an end last week, many in Alaska were wondering if maybe there isn't a better way for locating downed aircraft in the far north.

National Transportation Safety Board Alaska director Jim Labelle noted the deHavilland Beaver -- owned by Branch River Air Service in King Salmon and missing since Aug. 21 -- was outfitted with an older model electronic locator transmitter instead of the new state-of-the-art 406Mhz ELT, but even he conceded there's no guarantee that a new ELT would have helped in the search.

An Otter owned by General Communications Inc. that went down just to the north of Katmai park on Aug. 9, killing former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, pilot Terry Smith, GCI executive Dana Tindall and two others, was equipped with such a transmitter, but it never sent out a signal strong enough to be detected by satellites passing overhead. As a result, four survivors of the wreck were left waiting more than four hours for help to arrive. NTSB investigators said the people who died in the crash perished on impact, so the delay did not contribute to their deaths. But there are no doubt circumstances that could arise in Alaska under which victims are likely to die because of stalled or unsuccessful searches -- something that might be prevented given new and better technology.

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The ELT in the Stevens crash failed, investigators said, because it ripped loose form the antennae on the outside of the aircraft that would have broadly transmitted its location. The weak signal left coming from the ELT could only be detected by receivers in the immediate area.

But there is available technology that wouldn't have required a signal to be sent out at all -- technology that would have picked up where a signal stopped when the plane hit a mountainside in the Muklung Hills north of Dillingham.

For about $150, anyone can walk into a store these days and buy a SPOT II Satellite GPS Messenger that will track their position by satellite wherever they go in much of Alaska, and for under $500, they can buy any of a variety of durable, more powerful, all weather GPS transmitters that can be switched on in an emergency to guide help to within feet. Some pilots in Alaska admit they already carry such devices.

"SPOT has some shortcomings," Labelle said, "but there is some new technology out there we could be using."

At this point, of course, none of it is government approved. The government has rigorous standards for testing new aviation technology, said Adam White, president of the Alaska Airmen's Association. As a result, the process for approving new avionics moves almost as slowly as the process for approving new drugs.

"That is one of our frustrations," White said. "We are dealing the with government, and it moves slowly."

Then again, he added, that is not necessarily a bad thing. Rigorous testing procedures ensure that the gear the government finally mandates works. That testing has for years now focused on creation of an ELT that will survive crashes but avoid triggering on hard landings or turbulence, a big problem with early ELTs, which sent out thousands of false alarms.

Because of that problem, many pilots turned their ELTs off. Investigators who inspected the crash that killed highly experienced Alaska pilot John Graybill and his wife, Dolly, earlier this month northeast of McGrath found the ELT in the wreckage of their single-engine plane had been turned off. Some pilots probably figure it doesn't make much difference whether the government-required unit is on or off.

"Historically, most of the ELTs don't survive the crash anyway," said Gary Bennett, owner of Northern Lights Avionics. This is one of the reasons he now carries a personal locator beacon on his body when he flies. If he survives a crash, he wants to be sure he can signal for help.