Island Express Helicopters Won't Have Enough Insurance To Cover Lawsuits From Kobe Bryant & Other Victims' Families

Island Express will probably go out of business from the lawsuit filed by Kobe and Gianna Bryant’s family — as well as the anticipated lawsuits from the families of the other passengers on the doomed helicopter — because the company’s insurance won’t even begin to cover the damages.

According to TMZ, sources said Island Express, the company that owned the aircraft, had liability insurance coverage totaling $50 million. While these aviation attorney insiders say that’s not an unusual figure, it’s a very low number for a service that rich celebs frequently use. (As we reported, self-made billionaire Kylie Jenner also recently took the same Island Express chopper that crashed into a Calabasas hillside last month.)

This incredibly low amount of coverage is troubling for the company, seeing as Vanessa Bryant has already sued them asking for both compensatory and punitive damages. Bryant’s lawsuit claims Island Express was only allowed to fly under visual flight rules (VFR), which are used in weather conditions generally clear enough to allow the pilot to see where the aircraft is going. Because conditions the day of the crash weren’t conducive for that type of flying — as we reported, the fog was extremely low the day of the accident, causing the LAPD to ground its entire fleet of choppers — the lawsuit alleges the aircraft engaged in unnecessary and needlessly risky means of transportation under the circumstances.

As for the compensatory damages, the NBA legend’s family could be entitled to hundreds of millions of dollars because of his monumental earning potential. After factoring in the punitive damages, the judgement to pay out the Bryants could be an unfathomably high amount — and that’s just one family. While Vanessa’s the only family member that’s sued so far, the sources say more lawsuits are coming. The other passengers left behind spouses and children, too; those families have already sought legal representation and will also be entitled to millions, the sources say.

Considering all those large possible payouts, it’s unclear who will get what sized slice out of the relatively small $50 million pie. With cases like these, judges do have a lot of discretion when deciding how to distribute insurance proceeds, so we’ll just have to see how all this plays out.

There’s one thing we can expect, however: it’s not very likely that Island Express will survive after these lawsuits. Matt Drummelsmith, president of Aviation Specialty Insurance, told the outlet that because the crash was almost certainly caused by pilot error, it’s highly unlikely the company could get insurance again — which would put them out of business.

[Image via WENN]