Emergency locator device transmitting location data by wireless telephone communications

A portable emergency locator device includes a global positioning system (GAS) receiver generating location data and a wireless telephone transceiver for transmitting the location data as digital data to a called station during a two-way voice conversation via a wireless telephone network (cellular, PCS, or satellite). The emergency locator device can be implemented as a conventional wireless telephone having interfaces for receiving the location data from an external GAS receiver and vehicle status data from external vehicle control systems. The data received from the interfaces is stored in an internal memory for transmission to the called station in response to an emergency event trigger.