Re:I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived
by merely-unlikely on Wednesday October 26, 2022 @05:00PM
(#33349366)
> From a utilitarian standpoint my guess is that the payoff is confidence.
That's definitely part of the rational behind the more general duty to provide assistance at sea:
"A master or individual in charge of a vessel shall render assistance to any individual found at sea in danger of being lost, so far as the master or individual in charge can do so without serious danger to the master’s or individual’s vessel or individuals on board."
Every sailor on those ships watched them send everything they had to rescue the pilot. Every one of them repeats this story. And every kid/new recruit hears it. My guess is that it instills a sense of safety where there isn't any.
I certainly feel safer traveling abroad knowing the lengths America generally goes to rescue its own.