The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) is advising members of a mandate for the use of 406-MHz emergency locator transmitters (ELT) in Mexico beginning this Saturday. Mexico’s civil aviation authority DGAC originally had planned to implement the 406-MHz ELT requirement in January 2002 but has since granted a series of extensions at the requests of AOPA. The most recent of those extensions was in August 2015, running through the end of this month.

But the DGAC informed the association this month that no further extensions would be approved since the cost of equipage is much lower, Rune Duke, AOPA senior director for airspace and air traffic, said in an update on the issue. The agency also cited a need to comply with International Civil Aviation Organization standards.

Canada, Caribbean nations, and the U.S. currently are continuing without the 406-MHz requirement. The association said it supports their voluntary use, citing benefits gained from the advanced ELTs now available. But AOPA continues to believe that the decision to invest should be left up to the pilot, noting that those dollars could alternatively be spent on non-required safety-enhancing equipment, or “NORSEE.”