Gents,
My buddy in New Hampshire who lost the Yak (s) and damaged another pilots Hangar 9 Ultimate during the resulting crash also happens to be a newly appointed Assoc. Vice president of the AMA for District 1. He did contact the AMA to file a claim and found it to be a quagmire of catch 22 situations. He was indeed told that AMA insurance kicks in only after one's own homeowner's or other existing privately held liability insurance has paid off to the extent of their limits.
The catch 22 is that after talking with his home owner's insurance company, he was told he would probably be looking at a yearly increase in premiums that would at least equal, if not eclipse the $2,000 he paid the ultimate pilot to replace his airplane. Plus such an increase in premiums would stay in effect for a full 3 to 5 years, if there were no further claims submitted during that time period. (not to mention his unrecoverable deductable)
So........if he submits the claim to his home owners company, the increase in his premiums will cost him about 3 times+ what he is already out of Pocket...and if he doesn't, the AMA will not even consider his claim..........
We here in New England are quite concerned over this entire episode, from accident to aftermath... both for safety and for financial reasons. It has been the topic of an immense amount of discussion locally. Almost to the point that any structural or other problems with the Somenzini Yak has become a peripheral issue.
Even more frightening, is that my buddy has reported that he did enquire, both of the AMA and his own insurance company as to what would happen if, (God forbid) a bystander on the ground had been injured or worse when the wing failure Yak came down in the Pit area. The response was the same from the AMA, but his home owners said that his policy would "probably" cover the claim up to policy limits,.... but only if an investigation showed there was no negligence on his his part, was inolved....and then added that if they did pay off, his home owners would then be most likely canceled.
HMMMMMM....... could doing a power off blender over show center, by a qualified and experienced pilot be considered negligent????? If not, what part of liability would the Manufacturer be exposed to?????? I don't think the "we design them to withstand such manuvers, but cannot control the actual building process" would carry much weight with a Jury...
Before anyone yells this dicussion is over reaching... you all should know, that when the wing failed on his Yak, and he was struggling to steer it away from the pits, he did in fact yell, "heads up, I' don't got it," or words to that effect, and when the Yak came down and hit the Ultimate, it missed 3 pilots by about 6 feet...............
VERY SCARY!!!!
Thoughts?
Chuck