Airshow hold-harmless agreement = enforceable?

On Apr 11, 7:22 am, David Harmon <sou...@netcom.com> wrote:
> Quoted below is the agreement that Volunteers are being requested to
> sign in order to be allowed to donate their time and services in support
> of this civic event.

<quote snipped>

Sounds like an airshow.   People do crash and burn at airshows occasionally.   They also stub their toes on tiedown rings buried in the grass, get dirt blown into their eyes by prop blast, trip over spilled french fries in the bleachers, walk into propellers, etc.   There is danger around, and there is only so much the promoters can do to make it safer without taking all the fun out of the event.   ("Oh, look, let's go watch the aerial navigation contest and see which of the pilots sitting at a desk can calculate the correct wind drift correction angles first, using only an antique E-6B circular sliderule!   What fun!!")

> My questions are:  What does it really mean?

It means you promise not to sue the city, or any of the other listed people and groups, if you get hurt.  And that you recite and acknowledge that, by your act of stepping onto the airport, you are going into this with your eyes open, that you accept all the risks involved and will look out for your OWN safety, not count on anyone else to do it for you.

>  What would I be obligating
> myself to by signing it?

You would obligate yourself not to sue the city etc.   This does NOT mean you would be on the hook for someone ELSE's damages if anyone ELSE got hurt; "hold harmless" means you won't sue THEM, not that they have a free ride to sue YOU.  Also, you, as a "volunteer", are intended to be protected against being sued, by reason of everyone ELSE's signing simiilar hold harmless agreements listing "volunteers"  in _their_ agreement as one of the protected groups of people.

>  What is the worst that could possibly happen
> to me as a result?

You could get hurt or die, and not have anybody to sue for it.

> What question did I forget to ask?

Ask your health/disability/life insurance broker whether you have enough coverage to take care of you and your family if something happens.   Outfits that require participants to sign "hold harmless" agreements generally do so either because they DON'T have (or can't get, due to the danger involved) liability insurance to cover you; or, in order to keep their insurance rates DOWN by cutting down drastically on the number of claims that may be filed. Of those, almost none of them get filed _successfully_ because the hold harmless agreement gives legal grounds to deny any claims the signer may file anyway and to defend against such claims in court.   Legally, such pre-injury releases generally ARE upheld by the courts, at least in the context of a dangerous, voluntary recreational activity such as any kind of motorsports, skiing, scuba, parachuting, rock climbing, bungee jumping etc.    So only go into this if you feel capable of accepting responsibility for your own safety and not sitting back and counting on someone else to do it for you.

BTW I am a fellow EAA and Antique/Vintage Division member (assuming you may be one of those), and have represented parachute schools using such hold harmless forms.   Good luck with your event,

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