Headset:
Although my opinion of any pilot who won't give evidence to an incident inquiry is the same as yours, I'm afraid I don't think you've made a particularly relevant point re the ELT. SAR organisations have access to almanacs, tide-tables and weather reports; it helps a search tremendously if you know where to start looking. Once you've established that start point, a creeping line ahead search in the direction of the wind/currents is going to take you toward the survivors far faster than an expanding square in the general area.
Immersion suits with open collars? About as useful as smoke detectors without a power supply...
