Good point about the search costs! I am doing calculations in that field. Quite complex, because quite a few assets and resources have multiple uses and applications.
AO283 a quick question:
How do you separate out the true costs for a search?
Take almost ANY crash as an example. The day before the crash all the men and women in the crash investigation were employed by their various countries and companies.
However on the day of the crash they are quickly seconded to a new job for a few days, weeks or months. But they are still getting paid, for the most part, by their countries and companies.
On a more narrow focus take, for an example, the guy sitting in the engine room of a Coast Guard ship. He gets paid the same if the ship in training or searching for sunken ferries or airplanes. Right? The only true costs of the engine room guy doing a search is if he has to work longer shifts and gets some overtime.
When media talks about the tremendous costs for searches I am hesitant to believe. Perhaps if they were to include ONLY the the cost of over-time or fuel for extra hours of operation then it would be more realistic.