So I get a call from the airport manager this afternoon

[larryb]

and he tells me that there has been an incident at the airport, my hangar row is damaged, and I need to move my airplane to a different hangar. No damage to my aircraft, but this was a close call to say the least. My hangar is right next to this.

 

 

[larryb]

All caused by a drunk driver.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8930979/Drunk-driver-54-barrels-SUV-San-Jose-airport-smashes-parked-planes.html

 

I'm feeling pretty fortunate at the moment. My plane is un-damaged. The hangar row didn't burn down, but the car is toast. And the airport had a vacant hangar for me to re-locate to until repairs are completed. 

 

The plane in the middle, 84P, was tied down outside. The car hit this one first and pushed it into the hangar row where the two planes inside were also totaled. 3 planes destroyed. 

 

The driver drove through a fence on the other side of the airport at a high rate of speed. He drove across 2 active runways and 2 active taxiways before hitting plane outside and then the hangars. It was at 4:45 pm, a typically very busy time except we did have some weather yesterday afternoon that probably reduced traffic.

[Ragsf15e]

Wowza!  3 airplanes totaled? And we thought airplane insurance was getting expensive!  That guy’s trying to singlehandedly drive up auto insurance!

[M20S Driver]

A friend of mine who has his Cessna in the same row told me that the driver came through the fence on the tower side (opposite side of the hangers). My guess is that he crossed the runways to get to the hangers.  

[Missile=Awesome]

Humans...

 

[N201MKTurbo]

All Pipers, weird. 

[Ragsf15e]

12 minutes ago, 1980Mooney said:

What makes you think that this effects auto insurance?  California only requires a minimum $5,000 Property damage liability coverage. And that’s if this guy even has insurance. 

I see 3 more hulls totaled that will be paid by aircraft insurance policies. Up go rates....

Ouch, maybe i was being optimistic?   Definitely sucks if their airplane insurance eats that.  
Long time ago my dad was hit head on by a guy passed out from heroine.  Guy died.  Dad got extracted from his minivan and life flighted from the middle of the highway.  Learned to walk (somewhat) over the next year as both legs were crushed.  The dead druggie didn’t have insurance.  Thank goodness my dad had uninsured/underinsured on his policy, although medical bills ate most of it over time...

[G-SLOT]

Reminds me of a call I got from the airport manager about 3 years ago that someone had started their Piper Arrow with full power (perhaps a botched flooded start), launched out of his parking spot, shot down the taxiway, smashed into a Cessna 152 and then spun into my aircraft (an AG5B). I needed a new wing and extensive work elsewhere. The video of the event showed the Piper pilot lowering the flaps as if attempting to apply a handbrake. The irony was that I was flying earlier that day and decided not to stop for lunch as I had work to do at home. Had I blown off work and stayed flying, I'd have missed it! Nobody injured and all ended well but I would have appreciated some acknowledgement or apology from the pilot responsible.

[GeeBee]

I know that airport well. I learned to fly there, and drove a fuel truck there as a teenager for Aero Trends. To go through a fence and all the way across the field from Cunningham is a long way even if you are drunk. He had to. be completely passed out. I am glad your airplane is not damaged. I am amazed there was not a fire.

 

 

[Paul_Havelka]

As far as insurance goes there is one huge issue. A regular automotive policy does NOT cover you when driving within the fence of an airport, on taxiways, or runways so most likely the people with damaged aircraft and property will be indemnified by their policies if they had the appropriate coverage. 
 

Keep this in mind if you operate your vehicle at an airport and verify with your auto insurance that you are even covered if your vehicle is parked in your hangar. If it isn’t and you would like coverage, I might know a guy or 2 at Airspeed Insurance that can help you out. 
 

Paul

[201Mooniac]

@larryb Very glad to hear your plane wasn't damaged.  Do you know which hangar row this was? 

[larryb]

On 11/10/2020 at 6:35 AM, 201Mooniac said:

[mention=8639]larryb[/mention] Very glad to hear your plane wasn't damaged.  Do you know which hangar row this was? 

Rows P and Q. The car started out on the north side (P) and pushed through to Q. Destroyed plane in Q4.

[201Mooniac]

2 minutes ago, larryb said:

Rows P and Q. The car started out on the north side (P) and pushed through to Q. Destroyed plane in Q4 and I was in Q6 right next door.

Thanks for the info.  I'll have to head out there and take a look.

[Missile=Awesome]

1 hour ago, Paul_Havelka said:

As far as insurance goes there is one huge issue. A regular automotive policy does NOT cover you when driving within the fence of an airport, on taxiways, or runways so most likely the people with damaged aircraft and property will be indemnified by their policies if they had the appropriate coverage. 
 

Keep this in mind if you operate your vehicle at an airport and verify with your auto insurance that you are even covered if your vehicle is parked in your hangar. If it isn’t and you would like coverage, I might know a guy or 2 at Airspeed Insurance that can help you out. 
 

Paul

You are absolutely covered unless there is a specific exclusion on a policy.  I have not run into this exclusion on any carrier I have been with.

[Paul_Havelka]

Some do cover you but most have that exclusion 

[Missile=Awesome]

4 hours ago, G-SLOT said:

Reminds me of a call I got from the airport manager about 3 years ago that someone had started their Piper Arrow with full power (perhaps a botched flooded start), launched out of his parking spot, shot down the taxiway, smashed into a Cessna 152 and then spun into my aircraft (an AG5B). I needed a new wing and extensive work elsewhere. The video of the event showed the Piper pilot lowering the flaps as if attempting to apply a handbrake. The irony was that I was flying earlier that day and decided not to stop for lunch as I had work to do at home. Had I blown off work and stayed flying, I'd have missed it! Nobody injured and all ended well but I would have appreciated some acknowledgement or apology from the pilot responsible.

Arrow I flew did NOT have a handbrake...

[larryb]

I just read through my full automotive policy, Harford. I could not find any exclusions related to airports. 

[DonMuncy]

You should go out and buy a lottery ticket. For that mess and you not having any damage at all, you won't have to buy more than one.

[tmo]

14 hours ago, Ragsf15e said:

That guy’s trying to singlehandedly drive up auto insurance!

Does auto insurance even work if the driver was drunk?

[thinwing]

he will soon be driving without license or insurence.he will need to drink even more to drown his sorrows.his atty will get him off this because airport gate wasnt clearly marked.

[GeeBee]

Since this is Silicon Valley with sky high home values, hopefully he was a home owner with a lot of equity.......that the insurance companies can recover.

 

[thinwing]

if that were the case ,his atty has him applying for homestead act

[EricJ]

Glad to hear your airplane is okay, sad for those other folks.   

[GeeBee]

1 hour ago, thinwing said:

if that were the case ,his atty has him applying for homestead act

It would not cover the more than 1/5th the value of the average Silicon Valley home.

 

[rbridges]

6 hours ago, thinwing said:

he will soon be driving without license or insurence.he will need to drink even more to drown his sorrows.his atty will get him off this because airport gate wasnt clearly marked.

Any wagers on whether or not the guy had a license and insurance? It's 50/50 here in georgia.