Liability Concerns Raised Over ISU President Flying

Looked more like dubious analysis of safety concerns than liability per se.

The death of a CEO of a publicly traded company can affect the price of the stock, so stockholders and their representatives on the board have a financial stake in the risks the CEO takes. But that hasn't stopped CEOs from flying (and dying; e.g. Steven Appleton of Micron Technology.)

But such fiscal concerns don't seem to apply to a university president.
 
Gotta love the comment from the Regent who opined that the guy should have a co-pilot...in a Cherokee. :confused:

As long as he doesn't bust that stupid stadium TFR in Ames, he should be fine...
 
Geico266 said:
Are going to allow the lawyers to restrict our freedoms by creating irrational liability fears?

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20130902/NEWS02/309020035/?odyssey=nav|head&gcheck=1


:mad2:
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That is nuts. The Board should take out a big insurance policy on the president to cover their risk concerns, and should he die in a fiery plane crash, begin a search for another president. They won't lose one student or one endowment dollar. And stop being such panty waists. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
A big part of my flying activity for 20+ years included trips to, from and over Iowa. I'd advise him to learn everything he can about skew-T's and err on the side of caution during the winter.

FIKI is handy as hell too, as winter cloud layers seem to be fairly shallow and benign other than for a few popsicles on the way up and down.
 
nddons said:
should he die in a fiery plane crash, begin a search for another president.
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As I say frequently about politicians.... Big deal, we'll get another. We were looking for a {mayor/gov/senator} when we found that one.
 
Dude, the article you linked doesn't even contain the word liability. They are concerned that a guy they spent a million bucks to recruit could just die on them by piloting a dangerous little plane. Some of the 'regents' are apparently also jealous that he can just hop in a leased plane to go to illustrious places like Davenport while they have to drive 3 hrs on boring rural highways and interstates.
 
That said, presidents of public universities at times loose sight of what their job is and who pays their salary. We have two larger universities in the ND higher ed system, UND (the one with the aviation school) and NDSU (Ag and teachers college):

The president of UND travelled to the Obama inauguration on Northwest and stayed at a bed&breakfast. Total expense: $2,176.

The president of NDSU travelled to the Obama inauguration on a chartered King Air and stayed at a $1000/night hotel. Total bill around $22,000.
 
weilke said:
Dude, the article you linked doesn't even contain the word liability. They are concerned that a guy they spent a million bucks to recruit could just die on them by piloting a dangerous little plane. Some of the 'regents' are apparently also jealous that he can just hop in a leased plane to go to illustrious places like Davenport while they have to drive 3 hrs on boring rural highways and interstates.
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And the highways and Interstates in Iowa are singularly boring.
 
weilke said:
Dude, the article you linked doesn't even contain the word liability. They are concerned that a guy they spent a million bucks to recruit could just die on them by piloting a dangerous little plane. Some of the 'regents' are apparently also jealous that he can just hop in a leased plane to go to illustrious places like Davenport while they have to drive 3 hrs on boring rural highways and interstates.
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Oh contrair! The incidous hidden liability of worrying about things that "may happen if" are the real problem behind the regents actions. ;)
 
Unfortunately, it isn't nuts and I am genuinely surprised they allow him to fly himself on University business. If he incurred damage on the ground while on University business the University could be held liable. Those suits can run big, and the University is known for its deep pockets.

In a perfect world we'd all do what we want. But in the real world actions have consequences.
 
steingar said:
Unfortunately, it isn't nuts and I am genuinely surprised they allow him to fly himself on University business. If he incurred damage on the ground while on University business the University could be held liable. Those suits can run big, and the University is known for its deep pockets.

In a perfect world we'd all do what we want. But in the real world actions have consequences.
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Yeah, they better hire him a car driver too. Way too much liability if he hits someone driving to work.
 
denverpilot said:
Yeah, they better hire him a car driver too. Way too much liability if he hits someone driving to work.
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Autos aren't the lightning rods for the sort of media suffused lawsuits that seem to sprout around aviation accidents. Or perhaps you don't read the news.
 
Geico266 said:
Oh contrair! The incidous hidden liability of worrying about things that "may happen if" are the real problem behind the regents actions. ;)
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So you think there is no liability that may reach back to the employer based on the actions of an employee while on a company sponsored trip ?

http://cjonline.com/multimedia/documents/2009/090609/Complaint.pdf

After some back and forth going to the IL court of appeals, Morgan Stanley wrote a 15mil check.

Btw. somewhere along the way of this, Continental Motors, an engine shop, a simulator training outfit, 2 individual flight instructors, the pilots partners in the aircraft and a guy who just flew right seat with him during the initial insurance checkout were parties to the lawsuit. You will be hard pressed to find such a wide ranging list of parties after a car accident.
 
Are state universities safe(ish) from lawsuits because they are gov't entities? I can see orgs wanting to protect superstar leaders but university presidents are plentiful and interchangeable. This is just whiny university admin types.
 
What's the problem ,if there is a crash just up the tuitions. The university is worried about being sued.
 
I taught a college coach in this state to fly, he once had to have a meeting with a guy (initials T.O.) about it....it was cool the boss was a pilot too...but some policy stuff had to waived to allow it...its allowed him to recruit much more efficiently.
 
taters said:
I taught a college coach in this state to fly, he once had to have a meeting with a guy (initials T.O.) about it....it was cool the boss was a pilot too...but some policy stuff had to waived to allow it...its allowed him to recruit much more efficiently.
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The local college football coach has a mooney that allows him to do some stealthy recruiting.
 
ClimbnSink said:
Are state universities safe(ish) from lawsuits because they are gov't entities? I can see orgs wanting to protect superstar leaders but university presidents are plentiful and interchangeable. This is just whiny university admin types.
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I agree. This is more reflective of hand-wringing by nervous ninnies than any concern about liability. Government agencies aren't so much "safe" or immune from liability as they are apathetic about it. It's not their own money at stake, but rather the taxpayers; so they really don't care about lawsuits one way or the other.

The only time state workers care about lawsuits is when someone sues an individual employee for punitive damages, or by some other legal mechanism seeks compensation beyond the rather broad scope of their indemnification. That's rather unlikely in a hypothetical case like this.

I think it's just the usual hand-wringing by zero-tolerance, zero-risk types who are trying to create utopia by making believe that they can write risk out of human existence.

-Rich
 
ClimbnSink said:
More evidence higher ed has jumped the shark.
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Huh?

University leaders have always thought they were more important than they really were. That's not new at all.

These are centralized "leaders" of highly decentralized organizations; within a university, they are less powerful than prominent faculty members and coaches. No one gives a rat's behind what they say or do. And this is not at all new.
 
steingar said:
Autos aren't the lightning rods for the sort of media suffused lawsuits that seem to sprout around aviation accidents. Or perhaps you don't read the news.
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He should pack heat. That would be fun. That one's an even more asinine "lightning rod".

Let's base society off of perceived "lightning rod" risks instead of real ones. It's working so well. Must be the millions more Higher Ed educated folks in the general population since I was young. It's definitely raising society's level of logic and discourse. Everyone is getting more intelligent, and the bell curve is no longer bell shaped.

(Or maybe it's just creating more lawyers and folks with such high debt they have nothing to lose, so suing is the new government-approved lottery. Buy a politician to appoint a judge or two, it's better odds than Powerball.)
 
MAKG1 said:
Huh?

University leaders have always thought they were more important than they really were. That's not new at all.

These are centralized "leaders" of highly decentralized organizations; within a university, they are less powerful than prominent faculty members and coaches. No one gives a rat's behind what they say or do. And this is not at all new.
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Someone does care, hence the article. Clueless admin types with no sense of perspective or reality. Same as their underling professors.:D
 
Textron (parent company of Cessna, Lycoming, Bell Helicopters, Macaulay) forbids their employees from flying GA (except in rare circumstances). Small aircraft are dangerous. We know, we build them.
 
The reagents should leave their poor president alone. He's flying around simply because he's jealous that he's not make nearly as much as the football coach is. In Iowa, as in about 40 other states, the football (or basketball) coach is the highest paid public employee in the state.

Poor president needs his perks! Besides, he's gotta live in Iowa.

(actually I kinda like Iowa)
 
flyingron said:
Textron (parent company of Cessna, Lycoming, Bell Helicopters, Macaulay) forbids their employees from flying GA (except in rare circumstances). Small aircraft are dangerous. We know, we build them.
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Can't eat their own dog food. A bad sign indeed.
 
flyingron said:
Textron (parent company of Cessna, Lycoming, Bell Helicopters, Macaulay) forbids their employees from flying GA (except in rare circumstances). Small aircraft are dangerous. We know, we build them.
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Wow. That's a hell of an allocution. I'm surprised the media hasn't called them out on it.
 
Jim Logajan said:
But such fiscal concerns don't seem to apply to a university president.
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I gather you've never looked at all the costs involved in replacing a university president, both direct (search, travel, interviews, background checks, etc) and indirect/intangibles (e.g., loss of personal relationships with donors and grantors). The sudden loss of the CEO of a large organization, whether business, educational, or otherwise creates many big expensive problems, and that's why the risk managers get antsy when CEO's want to fly themselves around in light singles, and why many big corporate key man insurance policies require two professional pilots and two engines in any plane the key man is in. Nothing personal, but the numbers are there to show that on the average, a nonprofessional pilot in a light single is something like 10 times more likely to get killed than when riding in a 2-pilot/2-engine turbine-powered professionally-flown airplane.
 
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