ORIGINAL: PilotFighter
Wouldn't the pilot's primary insurance and its lawyers step in ?
If the pilot has homeowner's and this is a covered liability under that policy, then yes. But if he either does not have HO or it does not cover him, then the AMA coverage becomes primary. AMA's own policy covers them as a named defendant. The AMA can also try to be excluded from the suit by making the case that they had nothing to do with the event and are in no way responsible. I have seen similar cases where at least one originally named defendant was able to get excluded prior to the trial proceeding.
Something to keep in mind here, in these cases the insurance company is paying the freight for the defense attorneys, no matter whose insurance is covering it. So even if you "win" and your insurance does not have to pay an award there are still very real costs incurred. And those costs can be considerable. They are also separate from the dollar coverage your insurance has. So say you get sued for $2,500,000 and lose and AMA is the applicable insurance. The AMA insurance will pay the $2.5 million and will also be out of pocket for the legal expenses. Those are not part of the actual coverage.