Restoration of the validation service for ELT

Since 1st May 2026, the Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) had stopped receiving the daily reports, sent by the National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) and the French Mission Control Centre (FMCC) in Toulouse, concerning self-tests carried out on emergency locator beacons.

The CNES has since identified and resolved the cause of the problem. Data transmission resumed a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, the data relating to self-tests carried out between 1 May and the end of June 2026 could not be recovered.

If you do not receive confirmation from the FOCA after carrying out a self-test, please contact elt@bazl.admin.ch, stating the date and time of the test.

The FOCA recommends carrying out the self-tests specified by the manufacturer on a regular basis. Further information can be found in the respective manuals.

Self-tests must be carried out exclusively using the function provided for this purpose and in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. Under no circumstances should the beacon be actually activated for testing purposes.

The FOCA is happy to answer any further questions you may have.

Search and Rescue Switzerland