Page 10 - Nov 2015 Volume 9, Number 11

Liability Rising:
Use of Another
Aircraft
by Kyle White
Have you ever allowed someone else to use your King Air or have you used an airplane you don’t own? If you are like many individuals or companies, you have “non-owned exposure.” If you are a larger company, you likely have non-owned exposures you don’t even know about.
Every time you let someone use your King Air through a dry lease or interchange agreement, it is imperative to review your insurance policy for coverage. Additionally, if you are using an airplane you don’t own, whether it is a chartered plane, dry lease or interchange agreement, you need to inform your broker so they can ensure you have the right coverage in place. Consider company employees who are private pilots – are you confident they aren’t traveling on business in another aircraft?
8 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
About 10 years ago, the risk manager for one of our clients called to report a claim. The company owned two Citations, so I was anticipating one of those aircraft to be involved in the claim he was reporting. However, I was actually informed the employee had been in a Bonanza that crashed on final approach to a small rural airport.
The risk manager was as surprised as I was when he got the initial call. He had no idea employees were using alternate aircraft for business purposes. The employee involved in the claim had been asked to survey a large area of land. To save time, he went to the local airport to see if there was a pilot around who would take him up in their airplane so he could do an aerial survey instead. There was a group of pilots hanging around that day, and one of them said he’d be happy to take him up
NOVEMBER 2015