Authorities in northern Manitoba say two moored floatplanes were riddled with bullet holes and have likely been written off earlier this month. The privately owned Cessna 185 and a De Havilland Beaver owned by the Tataskwayak Cree Nation were shot overnight Oct. 4 on Assean Lake on the Tataskwayak Nation lands. “Sometime overnight both planes were shot at with a firearm and had multiple bullet holes,” a Royal Canadian Mounted Police statement said. “Due to the damage, both planes will most likely be declared total losses and the value is estimated to be approximately $850,000.00.”
I don’t know if it’s an insurance scam, but I agree that something doesn’t seem right. Cessna 185s and De-Havilland Beavers are hard to come by. They lead rough lives, and in their routine use they get damaged far worse than a couple of bullet holes. Unless there’s a lot more to the story, they shouldn’t be totaled. Until I saw the picture I thought maybe the bullet hole damage might have led to the airplane sinking in the water, which could be a totaling event, but they look dry in the picture.
C’mon Roger, it doesn’t sound like an insurance scam, it just sounds like a press release from the (non aviation) media relations department of the local RCMP. I’m going to give them full marks for correctly identifying the manufacturer and type of BOTH aircraft, spotting that they are floatplanes, not calling them airliners, and without being too picky, getting the valuation at least in the right order of magnitude. They could have gone with $8.5M, or maybe $8.5K. Compared to much coverage of our world by outsiders, this was good stuff.
I can easily see that a ton of sheetmetal work, plexiglass and windshield replacements, engine and prop damage from gunfire could easily surpass hull insurance values. Haven’t even mentioned any potential avionics damage.
I’d say they could easily be totaled. Just if the only loss was the powerplant prop and avionics that could exceed the declared insured hull value of the aircraft. Then God only knows how much to replace the sheet metal and control surfaces and any damaged wiring, control cables, pulleys, etc.
Takes a special arsehole to do that to a couple very cool aircraft.
Shot holes in the glass? Other than fighter aircraft front wind screens is there any glass on airplanes, but the report is probably more accurate than most. Too bad. To whom do they belong?
Again, the expression ‘totaled’ would simply imply that the insurance company is paying out policy limits as opposed to attempting repairs on behalf of the insured. In no way does it imply the aircraft will be scrapped. It will be sold for salvage value and for the right price, I’m sure someone will fix it up and return it to the air.