I agree totally with Teslinhiker on the subject of paying. In most operations, you are working with volunteers - no cost. If you start charging, there are all sorts of unintended consequences.

Think about this. Does your fire department charge whenever they respond to a fire or potential fire in your house? Probably not, at least not directly. It is a community service, supported mostly by taxes.

What does puzzle me is why the chopper was deployed in the first place. There apparently was a ground team that would have been with him quickly (we are not talking about a vast, trackless wilderness). Hoist operations are not exactly guaranteed safe operations.

Thiker mentions people looking for pets. For many years, the biggest donation given to our group was from a grateful dog owner whose mutt we pulled from a mine shaft. (Not exactly hazard free, either, for that matter). Call it a training exercise....

Cost? Two years ago we chartered a helo to move an 1100 pound mammoth fossil skull about fifteen miles. Cost was reportedly $13,000 for a one hour flight.

Still, all's well that ends well.