I have thought about an ejection mechanism too. Maybe a combined system of ejecting small beacons and the main one, that stays in the plane, would work better.

I have thought about an ejection mechanism too. Maybe a combined system of ejecting small beacons and the main one, that stays in the plane, would work better. The beacons could be located in multiple locations on the plane, e.g. nose, tail, wings, and when an inevitable crash is detected they could start firing off at regular time intervals, depending on the altitude. If they are light-weight enough maybe some of them could be combined with an expandable helium balloon for easier spotting. Of course this requires having weather data available for the crash area so that one could deduct their starting position. (Disclaimer: I'm not an engineer so I don't know if my idea is stupid.)