[pct-l] "Death" at Walker Pass

[James Vesely]

Sounds like a good "60 Minutes" story. 


-----Original Message-----
From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net
[mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net] On Behalf Of Clifford McDonald
Sent: Friday, June 22, 2012 1:42 PM
To: pct-l at backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [pct-l] "Death" at Walker Pass




Just curious.  What does an airlift out of the trail cost?  Is it
covered by
health insurance?  Or just provided as a free gov't service like calling
the
fire dept.

Steven M. Ratner
Law Office of Steven M. Ratner, PC
11622 El Camino Real, Ste 100
San Diego, CA 92130
800-836-1124
858-408-1890 fax

Your Tax Dollars At Sea - Who Pays When Things Go Wrong on Cruises? 
Posted on December 15, 2011 by Jim Walker This week the United States
Coast
Guard rescued two cruise passengers - one ill young man from the NCL Gem
cruise ship sailing off the coast of North Carolina and a second young
woman
from the Explorer cruise ship who was suffering from an appendicitis
attack
near Key West Florida. 

When we report on these type of rescues, we sometimes hear from readers
of
Cruise Law News complaining that the cost of the medical evacuations
should
be borne by the sick passengers themselves. 

We especially hear these complaints when a passenger inadvertently goes
overboard.  Was the passenger acting negligently or was he or she under
the
influence of alcohol (a major money maker for the cruise lines).  If so,
many people protest loudly and angrily that the cruise passenger should
bear
the extra fuel expenses and other costs incurred by the cruise ship and
the
Coast Guard searching for the missing passenger.   

Federal agencies are prohibited by law from seeking reimbursement of the
costs associated with search and rescue of this type. 

So who bears the expense when the cruise lines act irresponsibly and the
cruise goes terribly wrong?

Consider the fire last year aboard the Carnival Splendor which caused
the
cruise ship to lose power off of the coast of Mexico.  The Carnival ship
was
disabled due to the negligent design of the cruise ship itself which
risked
the lives of 4,500 passengers and crew.  As we reported before, the U.S.
Coast Guard blasted Carnival for its defective engines and poorly
designed
safety instructions which caused several thousands of passengers to find
themselves helplessly adrift at sea without lighting, air conditioning
or
hot water on the high seas. 

Carnival quickly considered legal claims against the companies which
designed and manufactured the engines which failed.  Carnival did not
hesitate making a claim against these companies for the revenues lost
while
the Splendor sat in dry dock being repaired.

But who paid for the enormous costs associated with the U.S. Navy and
U.S.
Coast Guard responding to the emergency?  

You will recall that the U.S. Navy sent an aircraft carrier, the U.S.S.
Ronald Reagan, to the scene as the mostly U.S. passengers bobbed around
on
the high seas.  The Navy utilized four aircraft and helicopters to
assist
the stricken Carnival ship.  The Navy made twenty-four airlifts of food
and
provisions which its aircrew skilfully dropped onto the Carnival cruise
ship
to feed the passengers.  

How much did this cost and who was paying for it? 

I inquired around and the only knowledgeable source was the
International
Cruise Victims ("ICV") organization whose President, Ken Carver, had
requested information from the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard
pursuant
to a Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA") request.

The U.S. Navy timely responded to Mr. Carver's FOIA request.  The Navy
disclosed that it delivered 60 pallets, weighing over 37,000 pounds, of
"bread, luncheon meat, pop tarts, canned crab, water and paper plates." 

Considering the cost of positioning an aircraft carrier, dispatching
multiple aircraft and helicopters, and delivering tons of food and water
to
be dropped onto the cruise ship, the Navy stated that it spent
$1,884,376.75
responding to the fire aboard the Carnival Splendor cruise ship.  

This figure does not include the costs incurred by the U.S. Coast Guard
in
responding to the crisis and towing the cruise ship back to San Diego.
Unfortunately, the Coast Guard has not yet provided any information in
response to Mr. Carver's FOIA request dating back to earlier this year.

The Coast Guard's costs were undoubtedly another $2,000,000 or so in
personnel and fuel costs for their vessels and helicopters.

There is a certain irony that cruise lines, which structure their
businesses
to avoid U.S. taxes and U.S. safety regulations, are dependent on the
generosity of our Federal agencies in responding to emergencies when
they
get themselves into a jam.  

Cruise lines incorporate in foreign countries like Liberia and Panama
and
register their cruise ships in foreign countries like the Bahamas in
order
to avoid U.S. laws and all U.S. income taxes. The cruise industry
collects
over $35,000,000,000 (billion) a year in income from mostly
income-tax-paying-Americans, yet it avoids U.S. corporate income tax by
incorporating itself and registering its ship abroad.

But when the cruise ships catch on fire and are adrift on the high seas,
cruise lines like Carnival are the first to make a distress call to the
United States and ask for favors from the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast
Guard. 

When cruise passengers were thinking of suing Carnival last year for the
inconvenience caused by the cruise fire aboard the Splendor, I was the
first
one to say don't do it.  Many of the major news networks and newspapers
picked up on the my don't-sue-Carnival message, like the Wall Street
Journal, USA Today, Fox News,  ABA Journal, Gadling, and the U.K's
Mirror.

At the end of the day, it was not the cruise passengers who filed suit.
It
was Carnival who made legal claims against the companies which designed
and
manufactured its engines.  Carnival made millions in the process.

Did Carnival, the only one suing, repay the U.S. government?  

Not a penny.

So who paid for all of the millions of dollars in emergency services
expended by our U.S. Navy and Coast Guard arising from the negligence of
the
tax-avoiding, foreign flagged and incorporated cruise line which
stranded
thousands of tax-paying Americans on the high seas?

You, the American taxpayers.    





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