Plane Hits Car — Car Owner Pays First

A Montreal man whose SUV was damaged by a Piper Cherokee making a forced landing last week says he can’t believe the spin his insurance company is putting on the mishap. Allstate says Bill Mack must pay the $1,000 deductible on the $4,000 in damages his Dodge Durango sustained when the Cherokee dropped in on him. There were no serious injuries in the crash. Quebec has a no-fault type of system in which insurance companies cover their clients’ losses with no deductible. But that only applies to car crashes and Allstate spokesman Derek Tupling told the Montreal Gazette the company has to investigate cases like this to determine who’s at fault, something Mack found hard to take. “It’s pretty obvious it wasn’t my fault,” Mack said. “It’s not like my car jumped too high or something,” he said. Mack said Allstate officials have told him he’ll eventually get the money back when the aircraft insurer pays but he said he doesn’t think he should be out of pocket in the meantime. His car won’t be released to him without the payment. Perhaps adding insult is that the Canadian Transportation Safety Board’s initial report faults the pilot for moving the plane’s fuel tank selector to the wrong position and starving the engine of fuel. The plane put down on a Montreal street and hit three other vehicles. The plane, with two people on board, was a write-off but no one, including Mack’s 82-year-old mother, was seriously hurt.