You might be right about saving the pilot's life but you must consider
the inevitable rescue effort as well. Here the comment from someone who
was involved in the search for former 15m French world champion Gilbert
Gerbaud and co Edy Naef who fatally crashed in a Nimbus 3DM in remote
terrain near Alamogordo, NM, USA on a record flight attempt in 2001:

"It was a three day search to find the wreckage with
literally dozens of people involved. The wreck was about 12 miles from
the airport and was spotted by chance. An ELT, while it probably would
not have helped the pilots in this case, might have saved a lot of
unnecessary exposure to the hazards of flying search patterns over the
mountains. The search and rescue effort can be just as dangerous as the
activity that spawns it."

If I remember correctly there has also been a fatal accident at a
competition in the Appalachians in recent years where the pilot did
have an ELT. The fact that the wreck was found quickly because of it
did not save the pilot's life but brought rapid closure to his family
and limited the ensuing rescue effort. According to locals it might
have taken a year to find the wreck if it hadn't been for the ELT.

Another interesting case was just posted by bumper:

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.a...4118278153060b

Markus

Don Johnstone wrote:
At 16:42 12 July 2006, Mike The Strike wrote:
As reported elsewhere here, an experienced British
pilot crashed his
18m turbo Ventus in a remote area of Scotland. Judging
from the
photos, it looks more like an outlanding in rough terrain.
The injured
pilot remained in the cockpit until he was found over
24 hours later.
Early reports suggest he'll be ok, though he has broken
bones.

From the accident scene photos, it doesn't appear the
engine was
deployed. It'll be interesting to hear the details
of this one.

BBC News Scotland has reports and video available online.

The incident has renewed calls for compulsory beacons
in gliders in
Britain.

Only by the press who regularly demand the sacking
of the Prime Minster as well. Neither event appears
to be imminent although you never know, about the Prime
Minister I mean.

As has been pointed out by another post elsewhere,
no glider pilot has ever lost their life in the UK
because they did not have an ELT/PLB. No glider pilot
has ever had their life saved because they did have
one. Why can't it be left for each pilot to assess
the risk and act accordingly, we have enough of the
nanny state already.

Bottom line, he was found.

Mike