Insurer contests payouts for fatal Prescott plane crash

PRESCOTT — The families of three men who died while flying over Prescott should not be compensated because the flight was not part of the Prescott Air Show in 2006.

That’s the claim from Houston-based U.S. Specialty Insurance Corp., which signed a deal with air show organizers to cover accidental injuries, deaths and property damages associated with the Sept. 30 event.

Two weeks after the air show and the contract ended, event organizers were doing test flights with a MiG, a Russian fighter plane. Pilot Robert E. Ray agreed to fly the plane in exchange for in-air pictures of the MiG, the complaint states.

But due to mechanical problems, the MiG was grounded for repairs. In the meantime, air show organizers asked a second pilot, William S. Friedman, to fly a small Piper with four passengers in formation with the MiG to take the photos.

When the MiG eventually took off, Ray noticed the landing gear wouldn’t fold up and asked Friedman to fly over for a visual inspection. When Friedman zoomed in for a closer look, his Cheyenne III got caught in the jet’s exhaust. He lost control and crashed, killing everyone on board.

A wrongful death suit was filed, and the families sought compensation under the air show’s insurance contract.

The insurance company is now contesting that in federal court in Tucson. Its lawyers claim that because the air show was over when the crash occurred, the coverage didn’t apply. The people involved were no longer affiliated with the air show, the complaint states, and the contract had expired.

Phoenix lawyers Timothy Hyland and Connie Gould are representing U.S. Specialty Insurance Company.

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