vin son , ▁starting ▁work ▁on ▁the ▁concept ▁just ▁before ▁the ▁opening ▁of ▁World ▁War ▁II . ▁After ▁the ▁war ▁he ▁joined ▁the ▁National ▁Research ▁Council ' s ▁( N RC ) ▁National ▁Aer onaut ical ▁Est ab lish ment ▁( NA E ), ▁testing ▁gl ider ▁performance . ▁ ▁While ▁these ▁tests ▁were ▁on going , ▁a ▁jet ▁f ighter ▁happened ▁to ▁crash . ▁The ▁aircraft ▁had ▁no ▁be acon , ▁and ▁thus ▁the ▁rescue ▁plane ▁sent ▁to ▁find ▁the ▁f ighter ▁was ▁forced ▁to ▁fly ▁low ▁over ▁wood ed ▁areas ▁in ▁an ▁attempt ▁to ▁locate ▁the ▁w reck . ▁The ▁rescue ▁plane ' s ▁low ▁flight ▁led ▁to ▁its ▁own ▁crash ▁in ▁the ▁bush . ▁With ▁a ▁be acon , ▁the ▁rescue ▁aircraft ▁would ▁have ▁been ▁able ▁to ▁stay ▁at ▁much ▁higher , ▁and ▁sa fer , ▁alt itudes . ▁Ste vin son ▁decided ▁that ▁the ▁be acon ▁was ▁more ▁important ▁than ▁gl ider ▁research , ▁and ▁was ▁able ▁to ▁conv ince ▁the ▁N RC ▁to ▁develop ▁the ▁concept . ▁ ▁Other ▁rescue ▁be acon ▁systems ▁had ▁already ▁been ▁developed ▁and ▁deployed , ▁but ▁Ste vin son ▁felt ▁these ▁were ▁ins u fficient . ▁If ▁the ▁crash ▁occurred ▁over ▁water , ▁the ▁be acon ▁would ▁sink ▁with ▁the ▁aircraft ▁even ▁if ▁the ▁crew ▁escaped ▁and ▁were ▁on ▁the ▁surface . ▁Over ▁land , ▁the ▁aircraft ▁itself ▁would ▁block ▁the ▁signal ▁if ▁the ▁be acon ▁ended ▁up ▁buried ▁under ▁the ▁fus el age , ▁and ▁the ▁crash ▁and ▁any ▁post - cr