I came across a blog post from Bruce Tremper regarding Avalanche Airbags & Avalanche Survival Rates.

Lots of discussion on the statistics but the key lesson is choosing your terrain. To quote Bruce:

“So at least for me, unless I’m 99.9 percent certain that the slope won’t slide, then I don’t go to un-survivable terrain. If I’m going to spend the money and carry the extra weight of an avalanche airbag pack, I want to ride in terrain where it has a chance to make a difference.  In other words, choose terrain with no obstacles, no terrain traps or sharp transitions and avoid large avalanche paths.”

Full article here:

http://utahavalanchecenter.org/blog-avalanche-airbag-effectiveness-something-closer-truth