One thing that strikes me here is how someone can even consider flying a high profile VIP in a private plane with the kind of insurance these planes have.
I would certainly not take this risk unless it was a life-saving emergency or something like that, but not even on a super sunny day with all conditions right. And no, this does not only concern soccer stars or the likes but anyone who can potentially exceed your third party insurance cover.
Mooney_Driver wrote:
And no, this does not only concern soccer stars or the likes but anyone who can potentially exceed your third party insurance cover.
Interesting remark and I would have to admit, that I never gave a second thought to the possibility of a passenger exceeding my insurance cover.
An argument to stick to 2 or 4 seat aircraft perhaps – flying strictly to SOPs, in a well maintained aircraft should help manage the liability risk.
Michael wrote:
I never gave a second thought to the possibility of a passenger exceeding my insurance cover.
It is high in Visicover’s sales pitch. Not so much the total cover as the ability to spread payout asymmetrically.
The insurance situation is a real consideration and one we all are all at risk from. I know first hand because over 10 years ago I was on the receiving end of a claim against me for damages associated with an accident involving an ex-military Jet.
How it works in the U.K. is that anyone who suffers a potential financial loss sues whoever they can with assets who are remotely associated with the accident. So in this case the claimers will be his family for loss of very significant earnings and the club who lost a £15m asset. And in this situation it is likely the defending people with assets will be whoever the Trustors are in the US Trust that SAC administered. Plus anyone else who had a hand in organising the flight.
Then you hope the insurance company will provide indemnity – hopefully it’s right at the beginning and they present the entire defence and reach a settlement. in my case they refused until the night before the case was due in the High Court and then it was only a partial contribution. Incredibly stressful.
The significance in this thread is that my insurance company’s initial refusal was on the very flimsiest of evidence that the flight had been remunerated. So if there are any irregularities in the private vs commercial aspects of this flight they will be minutely examined for sure.
“Snoopy wrote:
My bet is if two ATPLs / professionals had been up front and conducted this flight in IFR at FL200 everyone would be alive.
I agree but it would only take 1. Ibra, that is a ridiculous argument."
I was referring to running a GA private flight as commercial without Limits/SOPs in a single engine over water by night in imc/ice, as well as the risk profile that comes with, you can get that on a fresh new PPL, experienced CPL, ex-airliner ATPL
Probably, there are flaws in my argument as you dont know the risk appetite of the pilots but the peak is rather on the experienced side, I guess as some have phrase it “only an experienced PPL/CPL parachute dropper” would have done it? But I would guess you will get that with an ex-ATPL as well outside the corporate world….
I agree flying IFR as filled at FL200 may helped to find something during the SAR
Textbook John F. Kennedy. That’s what this is.
EuroFlyer wrote:
Textbook John F. Kennedy. That’s what this is.
I see very little similitude with JLK Jr. accident since It’s highly probable that iceing played a major role here and that is even more incredible given the capabilities of the aircraft.
JFK Jr. was a simple VFR continued into IMC, no icing involved, and no amateur contract pilot either.
172driver wrote:
I admit to knowing nothing about football and/or transfers and the monies involved, so not sure if these quoted 15 million quid are ‘real’ money (as in: wired to someone’s account) or a total of various monies paid out over time, but:- you have a 15 miilion pound asset
- said asset needs to go from Cardiff to Nantes and back within something like 48 hours
- you decide to use ad-hoc (as opposed to scheduled) air transport
- this trip has to be undertaken in winterNow you decide a SEP (P!!) flown by one of your mates who apparently is a PPL is just what’s needed…..
Am I the only one who’s totally aghast at the decision making process here?
The decision process may be calling for disaster but the fact that the flight took off in the first place does not surprise me one bit.
“Rich” people may be having drinks at a cocktail party, introducing people to each other, small talk about upcoming business, “yeah so I am going to Nantes to sign a 15m contract”, “oh wow, well done! Hey you know what, my friend X has a private plane and I’m sure he’d fly you from Cardiff” “oh sure, why not?, it can be fun”.
Probably also faster to organise than chartering a jet etc. Maybe there wasn’t even one available or whatever… And obviously they know nothing about the differing risks of such an “amateur” operation. To them it’s just a “flight”.
Because people have the money to charter a Gulfstream at 10k/h or so, doesn’t mean they will do it. Everybody acts like this within their respective “scales”.
