The issue is people simply don't trust the airline to take care of them. Typically airlines place lots of limitations on losses and make it very difficult to ge

The issue is people simply don't trust the airline to take care of them. Typically airlines place lots of limitations on losses and make it very difficult to get compensated. Lost identification usually involves fees to get them replaced. Some might argue, quite correctly, that you are making a choice between death and inconvenience but many would not assume they are going to die and weigh up the risk vs return accordingly.