Earlier this year, Norris Hibbler, the Insurance Director of the American Yankee Association and the head of the insurance brokerage that handles the AYA’s group insurance plan, asked me to take a look at nearly five years of insurance claims information. He was hoping I could identify some things AYA could do to reduce losses, and thus lower premiums and improve its chances of continued insurability.

Insurance company records reveal a lot of surprises, including the fact that a lot of aircraft damage incidents that looked like reportable accidents never make the NTSB files. This suggests that insurance records are really a more complete cross-section, as folks who are loathe…