Originally Posted by
onlyairfare
I seem to recall that at Star Mega Do 1, we toured the Norwegian rescue aircraft and the military officer-physician who guided the tour said that Norway rescues its citizens from disaster area at no charge to the rescued individual.
And as a physician, I was very impressed with the high quality of their equipment, and the efficiency of their operation.
For the US government to charge its citizens in an emergency what seems to be as much as five to ten times the walk-up price seems rather unfair.
I can understand it if the US government has to charter a commercial airliner to
ferry US citizens out of foreign country in emergencies.(war, disaster, etc) In
which case, it's only fair that they recover the cost of the charter.
On the other hand, I just did some research and was absolutely shocked to find
out the the US State Dept actually has the balls to bill US citizens when they are
evacuated on US military aircraft.(navy, air force, coast guard) Pardon my
French, but ...? A couple wrote in their blog that they were charged nearly
$2000 for a 45-minute flight from Haiti, on
US Coast Guard aircraft.
If the Russians, Chinese, or North Koreans lauch their nuclear ICBMs at the US,
will I have to sign a prommisory note before the USAF will retaliate? (that's
about as moral as the mafia charging you protection money)