Originally Posted by
bevar
Did you know that if flying a noontime demo at a show for a manufacturer, or during the "here are the boys from (insert name here), your AMA liability insurance is void and you are personally 100% exposed to damages?
If it's just a "Here goes Boli and his Lightning" and I am not repping a product that is fine. If you are a team pilot, and displaying/demonstrating one of their products the AMA considers that flight to be a commercial Operation so your regular coverage is void and a separate policy is required.
Beave
Back in 2011 this basic issue was brought up to the AMA and answered on the forum on the AMA website (since taken down).
The quote was from Ilona Maine (she took over for Carl Mulroney when he retired and handles all insurance issues for the AMA)
She said:
"The Westchester liability policy has a specific exclusion for commercial enterprises and/or business pursuit for individual members. The policy does not provide coverage for any business entity. Whether or not noon-time demo flights fit into the business pursuit is difficult to determine and there is no "one answer fits all" response. As with any other claim, final determination would be up to a claims adjuster/insurance company based on the specifics of each individual claim. The situation is obviously a bit more transparent when a major manufacturer holds a noon-time demo utilizing their own employees as the manufacturer's insurance would apply. Generally, when we receive inquiries regarding sponsored (non-employed) pilots doing demo flights for manufacturers/distributors, we advise that they should not rely on AMA coverage. We cannot guarantee that the policy would respond and we don't want anyone to be caught by surprise in case of an accident."
This caused a pretty big dust up as it was pretty wishy washy. One of our District X AVPs then asked her a follow up and this is what she told him (made public by Bill)
Hello Bill,
Thanks for the follow-up. I think it's safe to say that if you are participating in an event, sporting a Team Futaba shirt and operating Futaba equipment, it doesn't automatically mean that your flight operation at that particular time would/could be considered commercial in nature. I would go as far as saying that if the event announcer would say "Next up is Bill M., with Team Futaba, flying his xyz plane, using the new 18MZ Futaba radio", this could still fall within the realm of non-commercial.
I know there is some sentiment that AMA doesn't want to give a definitive answer on this subject. That's far from the truth. The fact is that AMA can't give a definitive answer. I can interpret the language of the insurance policy to the best of my ability, but I don't have the authority to decide on coverage. This is why I reference that the final determination is based on the specifics of each claim and is made by the claims adjuster/insurance company.
Best regards,
Ilona Maine
Safety & Member Benefits
Academy of Model Aeronautics
I guess this is what they have juries for!