No idea Captain Ryan's situation, so this isn't commentary on him, just general commentary.

PLEASE get life insurance. At the bare minimum get the max the company offers without the extra paperwork (I think it's 3 times salary?) You can change it at the open enrollment in November or if you have a qualifying event before that, you can change it then.

Ideally you want 10-12 times your annual earnings in life insurance and you really want to get a good portion of it outside work (in case you get sick and it causes you to lose your job).

If you get it outside work, make sure that it doesn't have an aviation exclusion. As we mentioned the most dangerous part of our jobs is the drive to work, but it would really be terrible for your life insurance not to pay if you were involved in an aviation accident.

 

Condolences to all at 9E for the loss of your colleague and to the Ryan family. It's always tragic to hear about such accidents and the consequences for those left behind.

I agree with Blue Skies 100% on the life insurance. I might add that it's best to get insurance when you are young and can lock in on good rates. The cheapest and best form of it in my opinion is the simple term life insurance. You can lock in to a 20-30 year fixed premium term policy for a very good rate if you do it under age 40. Term policy will give you no investment returns but its simply a benefit for those you leave behind. Some even have an early payout provision if you have a terminal illness to help pay for expenses. And yes, look into a policy that will cover aviation activities. Due to inflation etc, it's best to get a minimum of 10 times your salary early on and lock in.

Remember, term insurance etc bought through your employer is not portable. It's better to get the "extra" insurance from outside your employment and always have it.

 

That's really cool. Sorry to hear about the loss, sounds like a great guy. Condolences from the Compass folks

 

I had to put my thoughts out there on this one. I met Matt back in March and respected him as a pilot and a person.

https://medium.com/@ryan.burnette/go...on-d8d9747c6b2

Let's makes the donations to the Gofundme exceed all expectations.

https://www.gofundme.com/nancy-ryan-...69a47a41384a25

I was also moved by Bill's generous donation and would like to laud his leadership.

 

I was skeptical of Bill until I learned of this having never met him. Thoughtful gesture and he has earned my respect.

 

There is a pilot assistance fund through ALPA that is a great way to help out your coworkers in times of need. It’s payroll deductible and you never miss the $5/paycheck or even less.
I assume it stays in house and if we all gave 50-100 year that would help pilots families in need.

 

Certainly the Pilot Assistance Fund is good for many things, but it does require a bit of paperwork to request fund from (as it should, not saying it should ever be a blank check) In times of great tragedy it's hard to ask a widower to think clearly enough to do all of that. I'm generally skeptical of GoFundMe's but I think in this case we've got a link to a pretty reliable one so that's probably a heck of a lot easier for his widow than whatever the PAF paperwork is (and frankly at this point a lot more money than the PAF would be).

I'll echo what some of the other guys have said; I'd love to see this pilot group really step up. There's 1900+ pilots on property as of the last seniority list, if we all give $100, that's $190,000+ for a woman who's expecting her first child and just lost her husband. Money can never bring back her husband or really do much to ease her suffering but it's one less thing to worry about when you've already got so much to worry about.

 

All true. I really meant in addition to this go fund me campaign. Somthing going forward because like insurance you never know.

 

I had a good friend lose his wife when they were in their late 20s with a toddler. Its extremely difficult to even watch somebody go through that kind of suffering let alone experience it yourself. All I can say is, there is joy on the other side (eventually) even though it will never be the same. You guys are an awesome pilot group for coming alongside his wife like that. Your setting an example for all pilot groups imo.

 

Matthew Ryan funeral arrangements are going to be this Saturday at Gower Funeral Home in Broadheadsville, Pa. 11 to 2 pm and funeral service at 1pm. Please if you can make it join us to give Matt his clearance for Take off. Also please if you are attending please wear your uniform.
Thank you