Although this keyed switch is quite common on VLAs, I wonder if the simple red starter button and lever mag switches would not be a better arrangement, especially if the mags need to be cut in a hurry.
A fellow club member said the exact opposite, and it makes sense to me: in an emergency, or a situation of grave stress, one falls back into habits and automatons. Most of us have a habit of stopping a (car) engine with the key, and perhaps if my Rotax was to be stopped by turning the keyswitch then that reflex might have come to me. Perhaps even in time. As it was now, there came to me not the slightest impulse to reach for the magneto switches. Not before it was far too late.