SouthWings looking for volunteer pilots in the southeastern US!

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SouthWings

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SouthWings
For anyone that may have an interest, SouthWings is looking for volunteer pilots who live within, or near to, the southeastern U.S. We are a member of the Air Care Alliance, along with other groups like Angel Flight, Pilots N Paws, LightHawk, etc, and we've been operating since 1996.

Asheville, NC is our home-base and we also have a branch office in New Orleans, LA but we provide flights across an 11-state region of the southeast - VA, WV, NC, SC, GA, FL, TN, KY, AL, MS, LA. Our flights are conservation-themed and we try to provide an aerial perspective on major issues that can't always be viewed from the ground (2010 BP oil disaster, for example). A major theme for our work as of late is clean water. We fly several different waterkeeper organizations over their watershed to look for pollution of various types - whether it's from industrial sources (coal ash) or agricultural (animal waste). Our flight partners use information gained and photos from these flights to help bring about positive change. Our work has been featured on CBS News / 60-Minutes, MSNBC, Mother Jones Magazine, National Geographic, Audubon, and many many more.

Granted this work isn't for everyone and we understand that! We are however looking for pilots who get what we do and would like to volunteer to fly with us, in their own planes.

For those of you who are subscribers, you can read a really great 6-page article about us and a recent flight that we provided to the James Riverkeepers in Virginia in the Feb. 2016 issue of AOPA Pilot Magazine. The article is called "Stewards of the Earth" and starts on page 74 :yesnod: If you don't subscribe, you can also read the entire article online by clicking here: SouthWings story in AOPA Pilot

Feel free to also visit out website at www.southwings.org to learn more about us.

Our pilot requirements are as follows. Pilots must:

- either own or have regular access to a normal category aircraft (sorry, no experimental aircraft at this time)
-list SouthWings as additionally insured on their aircraft policy (usually no cost to do this)
-have at least 750 hours of PIC time
-hold at least a Private Pilot license
-submit copies of their license, FAA medical, and copy of their most recent BFR or equivalent

That's it!

Anyone who's interested can reply to this thread, feel free to private message me, OR send me an email directly at david@southwings.org

Thanks all! Take care!
 
SouthWings said:
-list SouthWings as additionally insured on their aircraft policy (usually no cost to do this)
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Unfortunately a non-starter for a lot of folks :(

I had this discussion with you and Hume year or so ago, David. Many pilots and flight clubs are concerned with diluting their own coverage while, practically speaking, there is little or no real benefit to Southwings. It was somehting I recall, you were going to review with your attorneys.

It's a SouthWings requirement that doesn't exist for most other charitable flight organizations.
 
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Sounds like a worthwhile organization but it also sounds prime for a UAS mission.
 
There is some irony in flying a leaded gasoline burning airplane while looking at environmental impact.

A noble cause though. If I had the hours I would volunteer
 
I am sickened that this organization is compared to the likes of Angel Flight, rather than the fact that they are the free-of-charge Airforce for environmental causes that have more money than all of us combined and could easily afford to pay market rate for their spy missions and PR footage flights.

And the fact that they require so much on the paperwork sign and three times the hours that AngelFlight requires just sickens me even more.


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750 hours pic will knock many on this forum out.
 
Thanks everyone for the conversation on this topic! The opinions expressed here are as diverse as the work we do :) We believe we are making a positive difference and we truly appreciate everyone involved in our organization.

Again for folks who are interested, we're online at www.southwings.org OR you can PM me or email me at david@southwings.org
 
SouthWings said:
Thanks everyone for the conversation on this topic! The opinions expressed here are as diverse as the work we do :) We believe we are making a positive difference and we truly appreciate everyone involved in our organization.

Again for folks who are interested, we're online at www.southwings.org OR you can PM me or email me at david@southwings.org
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Well said....and thank you for the information.

......and thanks to a moderator for expunging a most venomous post!
 
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As I mentioned above, while I have issues with the way they are structuring the insurance question compared with organizations like Angel Flight , political viewpoints on Teddy Roosevelt aside, I have met their folks in person and am pretty impressed with what they do.

BTW, Dave, are you folks going to have a booth at the AOPA Regional in Beaufort?
 
SouthWings said:
-list SouthWings as additionally insured on their aircraft policy
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From an insurance standpoint, what does this do?

You're adding them as an insured entity on your policy so that if someone sues them, your policy pays? Why would my insurance company agree to do this at no cost?

Or is there something I'm not getting?
 
bflynn said:
From an insurance standpoint, what does this do?



You're adding them as an insured entity on your policy so that if someone sues them, your policy pays? Why would my insurance company agree to do this at no cost?



Or is there something I'm not getting?
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Exactly. It's their way of covering their tails if one of their passengers convinces a pilot to fly low over say, an agricultural operation so they can get some spy video and they end up causing a stampede, or worse, pancakes the aircraft.

Even AngelFlight doesn't require it.

Not a noble cause.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Mark, yes we'll be at the AOPA Fly-In in Beaufort on May 21 as well as at Sun N Fun April 5-10. Please stop by if you're at either!
 
bflynn said:
From an insurance standpoint, what does this do?
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For them, IMO not much, but that's not my call or legal advice. The folks advising them might be looking at factors I don't see,

If you have $1 Million in liability coverage with $200,000 per seat limits, that's all the insurer will pay, regardless of the size of the claim. If, say a passenger gets killed, that $200K isn't going to protect them any more than it will you. If the claim is worth more that that $200K, you and they are pretty much both up the infamous creek.

The biggest benefit they might get is cost of defense, since your policy would be paying their defense as well as yours. OTOH, if your limits includes costs of defense (it varies), all that might do is reduce the overall amount available to settle the claim - IOW, ultimately less coverage and more personal exposure for both you and the organization.

That's part of the downside to you. You are paying for insurance coverage to protect you. It can potentially be reduced or "diluted" by claims against them, even if it's just defense costs. (The overall amount of dilution is going to also depend on the types of claims that are being made)

You're adding them as an insured entity on your policy so that if someone sues them, your policy pays? Why would my insurance company agree to do this at no cost?
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They will often do it at no cost because it doesn't increase their exposure. The value of the claim is the value of the claim, regardless of the number of defendants. Your insurer has a pretty good idea that, from a risk standpoint, they are unlikely to be sued if you are not - after all you are the one who did the flying. Even Tampico's scenario involves the PIC making the bad call.
 
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This is from Hume Davenport, SouthWings' founder and Executive Director. I hope it can shed more light on the questions and comments raised so far...

Pilots on this forum have asked good, relevant questions about SouthWings' policy of having our volunteer pilots name SouthWings as "additionally insured". SouthWings requires that you add us to your policy as an "additional insured" primarily so that our legal defense costs are covered if we are sued because you had an accident.

All legal expenses (your own and those of any additional insured parties) for litigation related to an accident are covered in addition to the liability limits in your policy. There is generally no limit on the amount the insurance company can spend defending itself against the claim, and this expense doesn't reduce your liability coverage. The cost of the claim settlement itself is what is charged against your liability limits.

The only time adding an additional insured to your policy might affect your financial exposure is if the additional insured were deemed to be negligent in an accident. As the PIC, however, you are 100% responsible for the flight, and the circumstances under which SouthWings could be assigned any portion of the negligence associated with an accident in your aircraft are very difficult to imagine. This is one of the reasons SouthWings rigorously avoids placing itself in any position where it could be seen as the "controller" or "operator" of the flights -- instead, SouthWings constantly reinforces your role as the PIC and your responsibility for all aspects of flights, preserving the integrity of your insurance.

There is usually no increase in premiums associated with adding SouthWings as an additional insured.

The topic of volunteer pilots adding SouthWings as additionally insured to their individual aircraft policy is an ongoing one internally. Our Board of Directors receives annual advisement from legal and insurance professionals regarding this issue. Our position may change in the future. Until then, we have decided to protect our organization by: requiring and adhering to high experience standards from our volunteer pilots, requiring all flight participants to sign a release waiver before their flight, and, as there is no insurance product available on the market to provide our organization with liability coverage, relying on the volunteer pilot's aircraft insurance to defend SouthWings in case that pilot has an accident or incident during a SouthWings flight.

Please feel free to contact me directly at 828-225-5949 with any questions about this, or any topic, related to SouthWings.



bflynn said:
From an insurance standpoint, what does this do?

You're adding them as an insured entity on your policy so that if someone sues them, your policy pays? Why would my insurance company agree to do this at no cost?

Or is there something I'm not getting?
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"Hey guys, I'd like you to give me a bunch of money and your time, then I'd also like you to fly this specific mission that I want. And I'm also going to need your insurance to cover ME in case MY mission causes someone to sue YOU."

Yeah... not even a little bit. I guess it can't hurt asking, but this is a TOTAL non-starter for attitude alone.
 
EvilEagle said:
"Hey guys, I'd like you to give me a bunch of money and your time, then I'd also like you to fly this specific mission that I want. And I'm also going to need your insurance to cover ME in case MY mission causes someone to sue YOU."

Yeah... not even a little bit. I guess it can't hurt asking, but this is a TOTAL non-starter for attitude alone.
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It's actually
"Hey guys, I'd like you to give me a bunch of money and your time, then I'd also like you to fly this specific mission that I want. And I'm also going to need your insurance to cover ME in case YOUR conduct on MY mission causes someone to sue ME."
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An organization's liability is to a large degree (so large a degree that "always" might even be appropriate, but there is usually some exception) dependent on the pilot's conduct.

That's not a bad attitude. It's just different from what other charitable flight organizations do and precludes a lot of pilots who ether won't or can't make them additional insureds. (And yes, "can't" applies to me.)

Why Southwings is unable or unwilling to purchase its own insurance to protect it and wants to rely on the often minimal coverage many owner policies have in the case of a severe accident is another question that I have no way of knowing the answer to.
 
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Tampico Trauma said:
I am sickened that this organization is compared to the likes of Angel Flight, rather than the fact that they are the free-of-charge Airforce for environmental causes that have more money than all of us combined and could easily afford to pay market rate for their spy missions and PR footage flights.
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:yeahthat:
 
I added my CFI as an additional insured on the C-172 and it cost $100 per year. On the CTLS, no extra cost. So, check it out first.

I notice that EAA adds the pilots for Young Eagles to their insurance instead of asking the other way around. Does Southwings have insurance that covers the pilot?

Do you have any associated groups that need a pilot in Oklahoma?
 
EvilEagle said:
"Hey guys, I'd like you to give me a bunch of money and your time, then I'd also like you to fly this specific mission that I want. And I'm also going to need your insurance to cover ME in case MY mission causes someone to sue YOU."



Yeah... not even a little bit. I guess it can't hurt asking, but this is a TOTAL non-starter for attitude alone.
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The "attitude" is solely in your words, that YOu wrote.

You may not have spent much time volunteering, or be involved in charity, but, the point is that the "giver" actually "gives".

If you think charity is about making the giver's life easier, you will be disappointed as you go through life.

That is not why we give.
 
midlifeflyer said:
Why Southwings is unable or unwilling to purchase its own insurance to protect it and wants to rely on the often minimal coverage many owner policies have in the case of a severe accident is another question that I have no way of knowing the answer to.
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Do you really want a non-profit organization spending money on insurance policies, and other non-mission expenses?

People who support charitable organizations usually tend to want the organization to be successful in the chosen mission. I want the groups I support putting my contributions to "work" on the core mission, not on stuff that doesn't help the cause.

And, of that means adding them as "additional insured" for free, or for $100, if you support the organization, you would gladly do it.

Hell, a couple of hours of flight time is going to cost you money, also. If you think you are going to be able to "profit" from charitable giving, you are going to be disappointed in life.
 
The additional insured thing is pretty common across many organizations/industries. My airports require additional insured status to rent hangar space. My real estate management company requires it.

Me thinks thou dost protest too much. If I had the hours I'd gladly volunteer some flight time.
I've not delved into the above links, but presume this is a 501(c)3.
 
JoseCuervo said:
Do you really want a non-profit organization spending money on insurance policies, and other non-mission expenses?
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I think you are arguing with the wrong person since I would be happy to add them if I could. Besides, this is the only charitable flight group I know of with an additional insured requirement. Obviously I don;t know about all of them, but the 4 medical charitable flight groups I have been associated with don't have the requirement.

But to answer your question, yes. Assuming the cost is not completely out of line, I would prefer to see a non-profit organization spend money on insurance to protect them in case of a substantial claim rather than rely a $200,000 maximum payout in case of an accident with severe injuries. Do you really want their mission to be destroyed by a claim they have not made arrangements to handle?

Do you really think Goodwill Industries doesn't carry insurance for their stores, workplaces and programs?

Of course, neither you nor I know whether the cost is out of line (Well, I don't; your post suggest you might). But since the liability premium is the cheapest part of an owner policy it might not be, especially since their liability is for the most part derivative of the pilot's.
 
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JoseCuervo said:
The "attitude" is solely in your words, that YOu wrote.

You may not have spent much time volunteering, or be involved in charity, but, the point is that the "giver" actually "gives".

If you think charity is about making the giver's life easier, you will be disappointed as you go through life.

That is not why we give.
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Man, you showed me! You are so right it's scary.

I don't do 15-20 dog rescue flights a year or quarterly pilots for patients flights and I certainly don't participate in Veterans Airlift Command. It's amazing how you can read a single post and infer so much! I'm impressed.

Now I have to go finish planning my charity flight for the 11 Labs I'm rescuing tomorrow...
 
After the "Blizzard of 2016" and a few days offline, we're back!

Again, some very pertinent questions have been asked via this forum and valid points have been made. We completely understand that the idea of adding SouthWings as additionally insured to an aircraft owners policy can be (and is) a non-starter for some folks. We're always sorry to see qualified pilots turn away, for any reason, and we'll always try to address any concerns related to that.

However, on this issue, there is no room to negotiate currently. As has been referenced previously there is no current insurance offering for organizations like ours that would satisfy the liability requirements. If there were, we would opt for it. Hopefully there will be an insurance product available at a future time but until then, we have to ask that our volunteer pilots assume the liability. We fully realize what we are asking and our current and active volunteer pilots realize it as well.

To reiterate, the work that we do, and the requirements we ask of our pilots, is not for everyone. We get that! We won't force our work or our organizational goals on anyone that isn't interested or willing.

We will however, keep up the work that we've been successfully involved in for 20 years strong and our doors are always open to add more pilots to our team to help share the load of that work and make a positive tangible difference.

Thanks folks!
 
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