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LLC


Cluemeister

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LLCs sometimes make sense from a tax standpoint, but not from a liability standpoint. As long as you are the person operating the airplane, any suit can go after you personally for your actions.

This is true in Ohio. There may be a state where it will still protect the operator, but I don't know of any.

 

Still, if you loan your plane to someone, or ever decide to lease, that LLC is damn useful.

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I spoke to our lawyer two weeks ago on this very subject. I was trying to reduce liability for me as an owner.

According to him, if it looks like its purpose was just to try and negate liability, it may not work. Any good lawyer would see right through it.

 

If it's truly a LLC, your liability would be limited to the aircraft, if that was the only item listed in the LLC as an asset.

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As Morden said, the problem is that if you are operating the aircraft, that is the avenue for you to be pursued.

 

As an example that my lawyer gave me, here in Ohio, if a FedEx driver ran a red light and injured me, I COULD go after that driver; it was he who was negligent. However, he's also acting as an agent of FedEx, and they are the one with the money, so that's why a lawsuit would be targeting them instead.

 

Now I myself, who lend my aircraft for others to use, definitely benefit from an LLC. As long as the result of an accident is not due to my negligence, the worst case scenario is the plaintiff gets a wrecked airplane.

 

Now, I also work on my aircraft. I am still covered by insurance, but I must be very careful, as I have opened the floodgates. I detail my work in log entries, save correspondence, and follow procedures closely. If a lawsuit occurs, I can point to someone else, stating "I did what they told me, I'm just a mechanic following instructions". (there is a half-serious joke among us mechanics that this is the greatest insurance we've ever had).

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