When wealthy adventurers take huge risks, who should pay for rescue attempts?

By ADAM GELLER and WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS
Associated Press

In recent days, the massive hunt for a submersible vehicle lost during a north Atlantic descent to explore the wreckage of the Titanic has refocused attention on the conundrum: who should pay for the sweeping search? With rescuers and the public fixated first on saving and then on mourning those aboard, it has made for uneasy conversation. In the end, it turned out that the sub had imploded near the Titanic wreckage. In the past, government agencies have typically taken on the cost of such searches, even when rich people pay thousands of dollars for questionable activities.