My Mooney Story, Also, A Comedy of Errors

[Steve W]

For those of you who have been playing along at home, this is the final wrap-up of my Mooney saga.

In February 2018 my 1994 M20J suffered a pilot caused gear collapse and that turned out to be the least of my problems. I obtained quotes from a reputable MSC as well as a semi-local well respected Mooney mechanic who the insurance adjuster recommended.

The Mechanic was chosen to do the work, received an initial payment to purchase parts and proceeded to get the aircraft in my hangar(the incident occurred at my home field), then removed the engine and took it to the local well-known engine shop. A few months in the slightly over mid-time engine was found to have some issues not related to the prop strike so I elected to upgrade to a full overhaul. The Mechanic picked up the engine in mid March 2019 and at some point between picking it up and getting it to his shop to re-attach the accessories he suffered an auto accident which involved his pickup flipping and my engine ending up in the ditch. The engine was returned to the engine shop where they quoted basically another prop strike teardown, Lycoming also had no other guidance on "So your engine fell out of the back of a truck." It was found that the Mechanic had no insurance on his 'shop' and his personal auto insurance would not cover it. Luckily my aircraft insurance did agree that my policy did cover it as part of the "parts removed from the aircraft" coverage. 

At this point I had retained a lawyer to see if there was any recourse against the Mechanic's auto insurance but there was nothing there. About this time(June-ish 2019) the Mechanic died. Subsequent inquiries by myself, my lawyer and the insurance company into the parts that were supposed to have been purchased found that other than the original prop tear-down inspection payment to the engine shop there were no parts purchased and the Mechanic's Estate(he was a 1 man operation) had no assets.

I got another repair quote from an on-field mechanic who appeared to be in better health, but was not a Mooney expert. This quote was sent to insurance who then tried to claim that the initial payment to the previous mechanic would be deducted. After some legal intervention using lots of big legal words including the word "lawsuit" my lawyer finally convinced the insurance company that they should probably just call that a loss and pay for the repair. The problem was that both my new Mechanic and Engine shop both had the usual caveat of "Initial estimate only, was not disassembled, may be further hidden damage" Which the Insurance Company was not happy with as the number was already my policy limit. 

So at the end of the day I told the insurance company to just write the check, paid off the lien on the aircraft, and deposited the rest.

And now I have an almost certainly repairable/project Mooney for sale. I'll list it officially as soon as the lien release shows up.

 

 

 

[Kmac]

Whew...what a ride...I'm sorry.  Hopefully you walked away with some money that you can use for another aircraft. 

[RLCarter]

Damn dude......Talk about bad luck

[Guest]

That’s a really sad story.  Hopefully your luck improves soon.

Clarence

[RobertGary1]

I just emailed my broker to find out if I have this "parts removed from the aircraft" coverage.

I wonder if that is a common coverage to have @Parker_Woodruff?

-Robert

[Steve W]

8 minutes ago, RobertGary1 said:

I just emailed my broker to find out if I have this "parts removed from the aircraft" coverage.

I wonder if that is a common coverage to have @Parker_Woodruff?

-Robert

Here's the statement in my policy:

• What is an aircraft? Your aircraft includes your airplane or rotorcraft and any operating, navigating or radio equipment that's usually attached to the aircraft. Parts of your aircraft that are temporarily removed are also included even if replaced by similar parts.

[Igor_U]

Oh many sorry about that story.

If it wasn't for bad luck, you know you wouldn't have no luck at all.  

BTW, where are you based?

 

Edited June 5, 2020 by Igor_U

[Steve W]

32 minutes ago, Igor_U said:

BTW, where are you based?

I/the plane are at Newport, OR(KONP) the engine is still up in the Portland area(but no longer in a ditch on the side of the road)

 

[RobertGary1]

1 hour ago, Steve W said:

Here's the statement in my policy:

• What is an aircraft? Your aircraft includes your airplane or rotorcraft and any operating, navigating or radio equipment that's usually attached to the aircraft. Parts of your aircraft that are temporarily removed are also included even if replaced by similar parts.

Mine is similar...
"“Aircraft” means the aircraft described in Item 4 of the
Declarations (and when appropriate any aircraft qualifying under
the provisions of Insuring Agreements V, VI, or VII) including
the propulsion system and equipment usually installed in the
aircraft (1) while installed in the aircraft, (2) while temporarily
removed from the aircraft and (3) while removed from the aircraft
for replacement until such time as replacement by a similar item
has commenced; also tools and equipment in the aircraft which
have been specifically designed for the aircraft and which are
ordinarily carried therein;"

 

-Robert

[Parker_Woodruff]

Yes, Aircraft would include parts removed, but you should increase the value of your plane when engines are overhauled, etc. if the plane burns with the engine off of it, they’ll want your overhauled engine, too. Sometimes they’ll give you a window of 30 days to report this.

Also, many policies cover spare parts that are designed for your aircraft 

[Steve W]

1 hour ago, Parker_Woodruff said:

Yes, Aircraft would include parts removed, but you should increase the value of your plane when engines are overhauled, etc. if the plane burns with the engine off of it, they’ll want your overhauled engine, too. Sometimes they’ll give you a window of 30 days to report this.

Also, many policies cover spare parts that are designed for your aircraft 

And to expand on this you should report the change in value as soon as you write the check not once the engine/plane is back in your hands(and certainly not 30 days later at insurance renewal time)... for obvious reasons. Well, unless you use one of those fancy shops that has their own insurance then maybe it's less of a concern.

 

[kortopates]

I responded to the other thread before I saw this one - with the Rest of the Story. "Many months" was actually more like 2 years - so unfortunate! I guess its a shame it didn't go the Greg at Advanced (maybe it did at the end). I hope you're in a new Mooney soon.

5 hours ago, Steve W said:

And now I have an almost certainly repairable/project Mooney for sale. I'll list it officially as soon as the lien release shows up

Did you buy it back as salvage? I assume when your insurance wrote you a check for the insured value they took possession of your project including engine to sell as salvage?

[Steve W]

36 minutes ago, kortopates said:

I responded to the other thread before I saw this one - with the Rest of the Story. "Many months" was actually more like 2 years - so unfortunate! I guess its a shame it didn't go the Greg at Advanced (maybe it did at the end). I hope you're in a new Mooney soon.

Did you buy it back as salvage? I assume when your insurance wrote you a check for the insured value they took possession of your project including engine to sell as salvage?

All mine to do with as I please, and by that I mean sell. The additional amount they offered to take care of it themselves was way less than I hope it's worth.

 

[carusoam]

Misery likes to share experience... (I think I just made this up...) 

We have another MSer that had their IO360 engine in a car wreck... See if that was Aaron...?

If you want to sell the project... Alan seems to take on these types of projects...

Let me know if you need better contact info...

Sorry to hear about the rest of your troubles...  Stay healthy!

Best regards,

-a-

 

[Hank]

9 hours ago, carusoam said:

Misery likes to share experience... (I think I just made this up...) 

We have another MSer that had their IO360 engine in a car wreck... See if that was Aaron...?

If you want to sell the project... Alan seems to take on these types of projects...

Calling @Alan Fox . . . . Sounds like your chainsaw will not be needed, just lots of wrenches . . . .

[shawnd]

Sad about the outcome. But thanks for getting everyone to double check their insurance policies!

[Fly_You_Fools]

On 6/5/2020 at 1:33 PM, Steve W said:

I got another repair quote from an on-field mechanic who appeared to be in better health...

So glad you still have a sense of humor after all of this. And it helps to remind everyone to make sure to find a mechanic with a valid third-class medical (at least). 

Good luck with the sale!

[carusoam]

Welcome aboard FYF.

Congrats on your first post...

Best regards,

-a-

[bradp]

Sounds like it might be a good idea to sell it to a shop who would be interested in updating / flipping it. 

[Steve W]

And we're done. In case anyone is curious as to what it looks like to haul a Mooney.

 

[MooneyMitch]

Darn!  I’m so sorry.  Thank you for sharing all this.  

[hammdo]

Boy, that hurts for sure... I’m sure there is a future for that one...

What’s next for you?

-Don

[rbridges]

On 7/7/2020 at 10:25 PM, bradp said:

Sounds like it might be a good idea to sell it to a shop who would be interested in updating / flipping it. 

I thought you were joking. The first shop already flipped it, literally. 

[bradp]

@Steve W did Don buy your airframe?  

[Steve W]

8 hours ago, bradp said:

@Steve W did Don buy your airframe?  

I'm going to let the buyer reveal themselves if they choose to. 

On 8/18/2020 at 12:05 PM, hammdo said:

Boy, that hurts for sure... I’m sure there is a future for that one...

What’s next for you?

-Don

Finish remodeling the bathroom. Turns out I'm not flying for work as much as I expected so I may step down to a slower plane.