Insurer Says Plane Crash Not Covered

The insurance company for the owner of a small plane that crashed into an Irvine business complex last November is claiming that a million-dollar policy doesn’t cover the fatal crash.

In a suit filed last week in Orange County Superior Court, lawyers for American Empire Insurance Co. say that the twin-engine Paris Jet which crashed near John Wayne Airport, killing all three passengers on board, isn’t insured by the policy written on owner Robert E.J. Morris unless he was piloting it.

The suit also seeks to invalidate a policy written on the plane’s pilot, 48-year-old Air Force Sgt. David B. Covell.

The suit contends only Morris and another man were insured to fly the plane, not Covell, who died along with his two passengers, 57-year-old David R. Hughes of Cypress and 37-year-old Tina Schroder of Newport Beach.

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board are still looking into the cause of the crash.

Moments after taking off from John Wayne Airport, at 1 p.m. on Nov. 30, Covell radioed a distress signal and tried to turn around.

But the bright-yellow, French-made plane apparently couldn’t reach the airport. It struck a building owned by Baxter Healthcare Corp., causing an estimated $900,000 in damage.

According to the suit, Morris agreed to let his plane be featured in an article by Hughes and Schroder for Private Pilot magazine. Covell apparently was demonstrating the plane’s ability.

The suit further contends that under the terms of Covell’s insurance policy--which carries an unspecified payment--coverage is not provided unless the flying is for “pleasure only,” which wouldn’t include demonstrating the plane for a magazine article.