Serious/fatal accident: What to do?

flyingcheesehead

flyingcheesehead

Touchdown! Greaser!
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iMooniac
No, nothing happened - Yet.

I became the President of my flying club today, and while I certainly hope we've done everything we can to ensure our planes and pilots are safe, I also want to plan for the worst - That is, what do we need to do if we have a crash with injuries or fatalities? Do any of you in clubs or multi-ownership scenarios have such plans? What's in them?

Thanks in advance for any help or ideas!
 
After? Talk to an aviation lawyer, call the insurance company. Do both before you talk to anyone else, Fed, local, or state.
 
Whatever you do, don't get 'airport manager disease' (AMD). The main symptom is flapping of the gums whenever a microphone is put in front of the victim. The lack of direct knowledge of the accident will not stop the victim from sharing personal details of the pilot, his certain knowledge of the accident mechanism and proclamations on how the airport (or club) is a safe place.

Look at how to format a press release/canned statement that confirms what is already public record (typically who is the owner of the aircraft) and defers to the NTSB and local authorities on any other questions. As flying club president you don't usually have information about the occupants and it is not your place to share any information about them.
 
"We can confirm the aircraft is owned by our organization, and have no further details at this time. We ask that everyone respect the privacy of the families during this difficult time."
 
denverpilot said:
"We can confirm the aircraft is owned by our organization, and have no further details at this time. We ask that everyone respect the privacy of the families during this difficult time."
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And before it ever happens, instruct the members to defer to you in case anyone ever augers in. There is no fame to be garnered by sharing your opinion about a fellow clubmember on the local TV station. Over the years there have been accidents where unauthorized information flow created great confusion about issues like number of people on board, name of the pilot etc. The press will flup up their reporting all by themselves, if you 'help' them it will be just your information snippet they hack up and misreport.
 
Remember that nowadays it's not just the press. You also need to think about what others might post on social media. I don't know how much control you have over your club members but you should suggest that it is not a good idea to speculate.
 
I would suggest each pilot take the first responders course from the local fire company or first aid group. Remember the first to the scene has the best chance to save a life, worry about the lawyers later.
 
Everskyward said:
Remember that nowadays it's not just the press. You also need to think about what others might post on social media. I don't know how much control you have over your club members but you should suggest that it is not a good idea to speculate.
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Another canned message ready to go:

"Dear Club Members,

Today one of our aircraft was involved in a/an (fatal) incident at ____ at approximately __:__.

The club is cooperating with safety officials from NTSB and FAA and the investigation is ongoing. Details are still being gathered.

Please be aware that during an ongoing investigation, the club leadership will not be able to discuss all aspects of the accident immediately, nor will we speculate on the causes of the accident.

We recommend that club members be aware that speculation and guesswork can be misconstrued by the Press, fellow pilots, the families of the people on board, and our local community.

The point of contact for the club will be _____. If you have any questions or if you are contacted by the Press, please ask the Press to contact them. They will be responsible for all communication from the organization and are keeping the Board informed of the progress of the investigation.

We will provide further information and more details at an appropriate time.

Our hearts are with the families of the pilot(s and passengers) today, and for the near future, as we will cooperate fully with the FAA and NTSB investigators, as we hope and pray for a speedy recovery / mourn the loss of our fellow aviators.

Signed,
Big Cheese, President
Sad Flyers Assn."

It's not callous to have this stuff boilerplated and ready to go. People, including the leadership, will be in shock and may not be 100% on their game.

You should also know who is best at speaking to the Press long before it happens and have a short list of people you can fill in, in that line above. If that's the President, great. If the Pres isn't the best person to do it, they need someone they trust to delegate it to.

Another often overlooked aspect that can be adds if you KNOW you have a trauma professional in your organization, someone who knows how to counsel people who are dealing with trauma, is to add...

"We understand that events like this are often difficult for everyone emotionally. If you or anyone you feels the need to talk to someone about this incident, (Pastor, Minister, Psychologist, "Doc", whatever title) _______ has offered to be available, anytime, at no charge, at (xxx) xxx-xxxx. All calls will be confidential."

If you don't have anyone to fill that role, there are Critical Incident Stress Management courses available for "first responders" who are dealing with emotional responses. Highly recommended.

Those first responders who ran to help sometimes need to talk about it. Most law enforcement will have a staff member or contact with local Counselors or Clergy who fill this role for anyone who needs it if the club doesn't have someone. Make sure the contact person who's working with the Police or Sheriff remembers to ask them if they can pass along the contact information for them.
 
What Nate and others have been laying out is part of the Response to Emergency/Incident section of the club ops manual.
Include who is to contacted and in what timeframe both inside and outside the club. The regulatory side is important along with the insurance folks.
Include who is responsible for the notifications at every level. Include who maintains the records of notifications.
Do you want to include club internal investigation & action? Potential maintenance and fueling problems may need to be examined in a very short timeframe if a problem has come up.
Start with an outline and fill in details when possible. Obviously you're aware of the need to put the material together when previous leaders weren't as responsible. Take your time and make it a valuable document for the club.
 
Consider that in the case of an accident, government agencies (FAA/NTSB) will probably be getting involved. They might be looking for something other than what you would be looking for in an internal safety review. Depending on circumstances, I don't know that you'd necessarily want to publicize a "hey, look what we found!" moment until all the insurance and lawsuits are settled.
 
Great stuff, guys, I really appreciate it... And I welcome more too if anyone else has more ideas!
 
Get everyone to take refresher training and be proficient and safety minded. Prevention beats "response to an accident" by a long shot.
 
If you have an annual safety meeting with the club, you can review the club procedures, get feedback from member observations, and have a chance to remind everyone to "let's be careful out there". I was in a club that had those kinds of meetings only when someone pushed it. But that's OK, too, people push for those things when there is a close call. Some people are just accident magnets, and all the preventative procedures in the world aren't going to keep someone like that from bending something. In the case of a serious injury or fatality, probably the biggest thing, as others have said, is to keep your mouth shut and have a prepared statement if you feel the need to put something in the news.

We used to have coffee and donuts and a safety briefing topic that one of the members would lead. Treat it as continuing education.
 
May I also suggest you have readily available up-to-date maintenance and rental logs on all equipment. Have stored and readily available information about personnel licenses for mechanics, pilots, and students. Keep information on what was covered in safety meetings, and who attended and presented.

That way, you will be prepared to aid and assist authorities as mentioned in your boilerplate release.
 
Ok thought of one for you.

Make sure you have a fiscal plan that includes both covering the deductibles (everyone does that) and also being dropped by your carrier the next year for hull coverage or liability or both -- in the case of a massive payout or even a small series of accidents with high payouts.

Will the club sell an asset and become self-insured? Will it require members get individual coverage? What's the plan?

This isn't a hypothetical. Sadly I sat through a club meeting tonight for a club that's facing this exact issue.

A series of small incidents and three large ones since 2008 and it's probable they won't simply see a rate increase, they may just flat get dropped. And there's only one underwriter in their space.

Two aircraft totaled in 8 years and damage to another organization's aircraft where the other org claimed loss of income while it was being repaired. No humans hurt in any of the incidents.

The premium-collected to payout ratio is currently at 231%.

Including the minor claims made, big mistakes made by three pilots, and minor mistakes made by three more, is putting the entire organization of 120 pilots at risk.

Clubs and cost-sharing are great, right up until the club as a whole becomes "uninsurable" via the actions of less than a handful of people.

It rapidly snowballs from there: Regular members realize they'll need rental insurance with a damage waiver of the value of the most expensive aircraft they fly in the fleet. And instructors are really hosed.

Loss of insurability is a huge problem for a club. At least have a table top discussing with the Board about it. If the club aircraft are highly valuable, compare the cost of wrecking one of them completely against your insurance premiums paid in over time and see if there's a risk of it, and have some sort of tiered best case to worst case plan to handle the problem, at least.
 
denverpilot said:
Please be aware that during an ongoing investigation, the club leadership will not be able to discuss all aspects of the accident immediately, nor will we speculate on the causes of the accident, unless they are a member of POA, then rampant speculation with no factual information whatsoever will not only be allowed, but be encouraged.
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FIFY
 
Develop and keep a sheet in every aircraft and at every contact point with instructions of what to do in the event of an incident. The sheet should contain the immediate action plan to get the president and board involved. If I remember correctly, WCFC had a red sheet next to every phone which contained the precanned text responses to inquiries and instructions on how to react and who to call...for example, you would make sure you got certain information recorded and then call the club president, VP, secretary, treasurer, Chief Flight Instructor, board members, etc until you reached someone.

The president should:
Secure any records which might be relevant, such as the flight records and maintenance books.

Ensure that the NTSB/FAA has their contact information as a POC for the club.

The precanned message to membership as mentioned above.

Contact the insurance company

From there it kind of gets a little random depending on what happened. But you'll be past the immediate response portion so you have time to think.
 
Have good insurance and be ready to get sued. You can do everything right, and you will still get sued. If you do take everyone's advise here, and if you do everything right, and if you have good insurance, you will come out the other side okay, but getting dragged through the process, makes life miserable. I've been through it a couple of times. Not with airplanes, but getting sued. Right, wrong, or in between, be ready for the insurance company to settle, because as soon as it gets cheaper for them to pay up, than to clear your club of any liability, they will pay up. Nothing personal, it is all about money. That is a fact of life.
 
As another soon to take office flying club president, this is great stuff! And Nate, I'm stealing your canned message above. The last time one of our members wrecked a plane, thankfully not involving injuries, the then-president sent out a similar e-mail, but I like yours better. :)
 
flyingcheesehead said:
What about notifying emergency contacts/immediate family members?
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Do you know who exactly was on board ? What condition they are in ?

If there is a death, the ME or the police will make a notification. They are on the scene and know who is dead and who is at a hospital. If you find out about an accident, direct the family members to whichever agency is in charge of the scene at the time. Unless you are present when it happens, any information you have is either social media, media or second hand.
 
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