Insurance Company Had Put $200,000 On The Table

The model and blogger who walked into a moving airplane propeller after exiting the aircraft has rejected a $200,000 settlement offer from the company that insured the airplane.

Lauren Scruggs, a blogger and model who lives in Texas, had been on a sightseeing flight with a friend around Christmas time to views lights from the air. After the flight, she exited the airplane and walked into the still-turning propeller. She lost an eye and a hand in the accident.

Fox News reports she is suing the plane's owner Shell Aviation and company owner Michael Shell, as well as Aggressive Insurance Services which wrote Shell's policy, and pilot Curt Richmond, according to court documents reproduced by the Dallas Morning News website. The suit was filed in the Dallas County Court.

Aggressive reportedly made a verbal offer to Scruggs based on her status as a passenger on the airplane. The policy has a $100,000 per passenger limit on liability. But in the court filing, Scruggs and her father Jeff, who is a co-plaintiff, say that since she was outside the airplane when the accident occurred, she was not a passenger so the limit does not apply. The case will apparently turn on a determination of when someone is no longer considered a passenger in an airplane.

The NTSB preliminary report indicates that Richmond had warned Scruggs about the turning propeller as she exited the aircraft, and tried to physically direct her away from it as she turned toward the prop. He also admitted he did leave it running while she was getting out of the aircraft.

FMI: www.dallascounty.org/department/courts/courts_index.php