Current Event Example of Uncontrollable Loss

Often when we think about a loss on an aviation insurance policy, we think about the damage caused when landing or taking off and forget about other potential risks that are out of our control, like acts of nature and extreme weather.

Our heart goes out to all those affected by the tornado that devastated the Nashville, Tennessee area recently. In addition to the immeasurable personal property and lives impacted, the storm caused significant damage at John C. Tune Airport west of Nashville, including the terminal, 17 hangars, the airfield, pavement, navigational aids, signage, lighting, fencing, and utilities, causing $93 million in damages. This estimate does not even include the damage to more than 90 destroyed aircraft and other personal property such as vehicles.

From an aviation insurance perspective, in today’s market, a loss like this affects all of us, because the same insurance carriers that offer aviation insurance for your personal aircraft across the country are also directly impacted by this sort of event. While an operator may not have any claims to report on their specific policy, we need to remember that the companies paying out large claims such as this will need to make underwriting adjustments accordingly, which of course will affect us all.