You make a good point. I also think many of the accidents have been avoided by the scares such as this being well communicated. I bet there were more than one who took (and now take the time) to inspect their ARFs and correct any issues before committing to flight. There will always be cheap knockoffs as long as there are cheap modellers (and we know there are many of those). My worry is that there will not always be those with enough knowledge to catch and correct these issues before they become an accident.

I've often been chastised for raising these concerns, I don't mind being branded an alarmist or elitist if I save even one incident from happening.

No, I don't think I'm an elitist, in fact I'm currently enjoying a little Kyosho Pitts. I had it on the highest recommendations that this was a well built ARF. These recommentations made me far too complacent as I caught a loose firewall at the flying field after a flight.... it's now fixed but, I will not be so complacent again.