Aircraft ground damage claims built on the clip, the loader and the clause — and sent in time
Every ramp strike claimed in time, with the clip, the loader and the clause cited.
See one case, screen by screen ↓Aircraft Ground Damage Claims is software for airline ground damage claims and recovery: it builds the evidence file for each ramp damage event and claims the cost back from the ground handler. Nine AI agents pin the damage on the aircraft, preserve the camera clip and the loader's record, cost the repair and lost flights against SGHA Article 8.5 and the station's Annex B, and draft a cited claim. The Ground Damage Recovery Manager decides, edits and signs.
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Every aircraft ground damage claim starts on the ramp. When a belt loader, cargo loader, stairs truck, tug or boarding bridge strikes an aircraft, Maintenance Control grounds it, Engineering issues a disposition, flights cancel and the repair gets done. Under IATA SGHA Article 8.5 the ground handler owes the physical damage its negligence caused, up to the airline's hull deductible and never more than $1.5 million, with nothing below $3,000. But the proof is scattered: a tech log entry, an apron camera that overwrites itself, the handler's equipment records and roster, a walkaround photo and a repair estimate from contract maintenance.
So the claim gets written weeks later with the invoice alone. By then the footage is gone, the handler's insurer answers "pre-existing damage" because nobody kept the inbound walkaround, the notice clock in the station's Annex B has run, or the claim leaves out the direct costs and passenger care the agreement allows. Repeat strikes by the same loader at the same station are seen late, if at all.
Estimated hours of recovery work on one narrowbody ground damage event, by hand and with the solution.
Nine agents pin the damage, gather the clip and the loader's record, cost it under the contract and draft the claim; Recovery signs.
Tuesday, October 13, 14:06 PT, Las Vegas gate C14. A Silverline Ground Services belt loader touches the aft cargo door of Corvane Airways A321neo N227CV. Here is how that aircraft ground damage claim gets built and sent, screen by screen, in the working solution.
Nadia's day opens on what the agents did overnight: 9 items need her, 4 with a clock this week, $1.94M in open claims and $2.84M recovered this year. At the top: Meridian has not replied in 31 days on N270CV, and a reminder is drafted. Further down, the $78,900 claim to Silverline for N227CV is drafted and cited, due Dec 12.
Trend analyst, 06:10: “Third aft cargo door strike at LAS in 45 days; two by BL-12. Corrective action request drafted for Megan Doyle.”
The case opens on a drawing of N227CV with the damage pinned: aft cargo door frame, lower sill, right side, FR 58–60, STGR 38–40, a dent 42 × 18 mm and 1.6 mm deep. The intake agent read tech log TL-227-0913 at 14:33 and pinned it; Owen Hartley in Maintenance Control confirmed the pin. Around it sit the evidence, the lost flights and the repair estimate, and beside it the agents' steps, each with its sources and confidence.
Your decision, due Dec 12: “Pursue $78,900 against Silverline Ground Services?”
The preservation notice went to Silverline and the LAS camera office at 14:52, inside the airport's 30-day camera retention. Apron camera LAS-C14-02 shows contact at 14:06:12, and BL-12's telematics show 4.1 mph inside 15 feet against a 3 mph limit in Silverline's own procedure SGS-RP-07. The attribution checker names Silverline, BL-12 and badge SGS-4471 at 96%; working on its own, the pre-existing damage check finds the 13:31 inbound walkaround clean.
“The two checks agree. Had they disagreed, the case would have come to you before any claim was drafted.”
Repair estimate DLM-4471 from Desert Line Maintenance, $61,400 in seven lines, is checked against disposition ED-26-1182 and the $145-an-hour rate card. Direct costs of $4,250 for extra parking and the independent surveyor are tagged to the IATA AHM 660 cost model. Two canceled flights, CV 1187 and CV 1194, bring $13,250 of passenger care, recoverable under Annex B LAS §8.5.3 up to $25,000. Lost ticket revenue of $58,600 and crew cost of $6,900 are consequential and stay out. The limit check passes the $3,000 floor, the $750,000 A321neo hull deductible cap, the 7-day notice and the 60-day claim clock.
Contract and limits checker: “Never over the cap; recklessness goes to the Director and legal.”
The claim to Silverline's claims desk states the strike, the clip and the telematics, the clean walkaround, the dent outside the Structural Repair Manual allowable, the repair and direct costs under Article 8.5, the passenger care under Annex B, and the total inside the 8.5 limit. Each sentence carries numbered citations that open the source. A 14-item evidence pack is attached.
Nadia types into the conversation beside the case: add the surveyor's report to the claim pack. The claim writer adds it as a proposal and says so. The drawing, the claim and her decision stay on the same screen while she works with the agents.
Claim writer: “I added it to the claim draft as a proposal; it changes nothing until you approve.”
Nadia picks the reason code “Liability clear — evidence complete”, attests that she has read the claim and its sources and that it is within the agreement, and signs and sends. The claim is within her $250,000 limit; above it, Graham Pell, Director of Risk and Insurance, signs. The decision, the reason and her name go on the audit trail.
“I have read the claim and its sources, and it is within the agreement.”
On the case list Nadia asks which small claims she can send together. The claim writer names N261CV at PHX ($8,950) and N233CV at SAN ($14,800), both Silverline, evidence complete, each under the $25,000 bulk limit, and selects them. She reviews and signs once, with one reason.
Claim writer: “I have selected them; you review and sign.”
Kanto Ground Support disputes the $221,800 claim for 787-9 N811CV at NRT on three points and offers $155,260, 70%. Each point gets a drafted answer with its source: the 09:21 walkaround and camera 64-02 on pre-existing damage, the AOG declared at 11:40 on freight, and 86 hours of sealant removal on labor. The agents' settlement range is $199,600–$221,800; accepting under 80% needs Graham Pell.
Every damage pin of the year sits on one drawing. LAS runs 3.1 events per 1,000 turns, up 2.0 on last year; belt loaders cause 31% of Corvane's events. Of the three aft cargo door strikes at LAS in 45 days, two were by belt loader BL-12 and one by BL-07, both legacy loaders without proximity sensors or inching. The trend analyst drafts a corrective action request to Silverline; Megan approves it with a reason code.
The request asks Silverline, within 30 days, to withdraw BL-12 and BL-07 from aft-hold positioning until fitted with proximity sensing and inching, or replaced.
The same damage event, seen by the five people who carry it — what their week looked like, and what it looks like now.
Nine agents pin the damage, gather the clip and the loader's record, cost it under the contract and draft the claim; Recovery signs.
Reads tech log entries, Maintenance Control messages, station reports and photos; opens the case; pins the damage by zone, frame and stringer; merges duplicate reports of one event.
Sends the preservation notice by rule, requests the apron clip and finds the second of contact, pulls the equipment record, roster and walkaround photos, and fingerprints everything on receipt.
Works out which party, unit and badge, and which agreement applies, matching the clip, telematics, roster and reports, with a confidence and its reasons.
Independently tests whether the damage was there before: the inbound walkaround, the last check and open defects.
Checks the repair estimate line by line against the engineering disposition, the rate card and parts history.
Prices flights canceled or delayed over 3 hours by the grounding, passenger care and crew, and separates out-of-pocket costs from consequential loss.
Applies SGHA Article 8.5 and the station's Annex B: the floor, the cap from the hull deductible of that fleet type, the notice and claim clocks, exclusions and the recklessness question.
Drafts the claim one fact per sentence, each cited; re-checks a person's edits against the evidence; reads replies point by point and drafts answers and a settlement range.
Finds repeat damage by station, equipment and aircraft zone per 1,000 turns; drafts corrective action requests and the de-identified quarterly IATA submission.
Signs every claim and settlement; the Director above $250,000 and under 80%. The agents propose; a named person decides.
Ask about a case, a cost line, a clause or a handler — or tell the agents what to do. Every answer points to its source, and nothing changes until a person approves.
Why is N227CV's claim more than the repair invoice?
The repair is $61,400. Article 8.5 also covers direct costs, $4,250, and Annex B LAS adds passenger care up to $25,000: $13,250. Total $78,900, 28% more than the invoice.
Why not claim the lost revenue?
Article 8.5 covers physical damage only; lost revenue is a consequential loss. Annex B LAS adds passenger out-of-pocket costs up to $25,000, so $13,250 is in. Lost revenue of $58,600 and crew cost of $6,900 stay with Corvane.
Could Silverline say the dent was already there?
Unlikely to hold. The inbound walkaround at 13:31, 35 minutes before contact, shows the sill clean, and the clip shows the contact at 14:06:12.
Which handler is slowest to pay?
Kanto Ground Support: 71 days on average, then Meridian Ramp Services at 64 days and 72% of the claimed value. Harborview is fastest: 31 days, 96%.
13 screens from the working solution, on its sample data. Pick one to see it large.
Who signs what, the thresholds the agents follow and the clocks of each agreement are settings, and every change is saved with a reason code on the audit trail.
| Setting | Default | Choose from |
|---|---|---|
| Ground Damage Recovery Manager signs up to | $250,000 | A signing limit per person, changed by the administrator |
| Director, Risk and Insurance signs | Above $250,000; settlements under 80%; over the cap; legal | Set per role in Roles and limits |
| Confidence below which a person reviews the attribution | 85% | A threshold you set |
| Bulk approval allowed under | $25,000 | A threshold you set |
| Reminder when a party has not replied in | 30 days | A threshold you set |
| Floor when the agreement is silent | $3,000 | A threshold you set; an agreement's own floor applies first |
| Send the evidence preservation notice when damage is reported | On | On · Off |
| Notice and claim clocks | Annex B LAS: notice 7 days, claim 60 days | Per agreement, with camera retention per airport |
Every figure is labelled: a target the solution is built to, an estimate, a typical published result, or a proven one.
“demo” = seen in the working solution, on its sample data · “target” = the design goal, measured in the live solution · “estimated” = our estimate · “typical” = published figures (IATA Ground Damage Report 2022 — about $5 billion a year, nearly $10 billion by 2035, belt loaders, cargo loaders, stairs and boarding bridges about 40% of incidents; IATA SGHA 2023 Article 8.5 — hull deductible, maximum $1.5 million, no claim under $3,000; IATA AHM 660 ground damage cost model; AviationPros and WTW on recovery and deductibles). Notice and claim clocks shown are the sample airline's own Annex B terms, not an IATA rule. People, airlines, handlers, aircraft and cases named on this page are fictional — characters and sample data in the working solution.
Aircraft Ground Damage Claims is software for airline ground damage claims and recovery: it builds the evidence file for each ramp damage event and claims the cost back from the ground handler. Nine AI agents pin the damage on the aircraft, preserve the camera clip and the loader's record, cost the repair and lost flights against SGHA Article 8.5 and the station's Annex B, and draft a cited claim. The Ground Damage Recovery Manager decides, edits and signs.
Ground handling liability for aircraft damage is set by the handling agreement. Under IATA SGHA Article 8.5 the handler indemnifies the airline for physical damage caused by its negligence, up to the airline's hull deductible and never more than $1.5 million, with no claim below $3,000. A station's Annex B can change those terms, for example adding passenger care. The contract and limits checker applies the agreement that governs each station and computes the cap from the hull deductible of that fleet type.
Not under SGHA Article 8.5, which excludes consequential loss such as loss of use, lost ticket revenue and crew cost. Where an Annex B allows out-of-pocket costs, those are claimed: in the sample case, $13,250 of passenger care under Annex B §8.5.3, while $58,600 of lost revenue and $6,900 of crew cost stay out. Each cost line shows the clause that decides it.
A separate pre-existing damage check, which never reads the attribution checker's work, tests the inbound walkaround photos, the last check and open defects. In the sample case the 13:31 walkaround shows the door sill clean, 35 minutes before the 14:06:12 contact on camera. If the two checks disagree, a person decides before any claim is drafted.
When damage is reported, the evidence gatherer sends a preservation notice to the handler and the airport camera office by a rule you can see and switch off, then requests the clip and finds the second of contact. Camera retention is a setting per airport, 30 days at LAS in the sample. Every item is fingerprinted when it arrives.
Yes. The trend analyst puts every damage pin of the year on one drawing and counts events per 1,000 turns by station, equipment and aircraft zone. In the sample it found three aft cargo door strikes at LAS in 45 days, two by the same belt loader, and drafted a corrective action request that the station manager approves. It also prepares the de-identified quarterly IATA incident data submission.
Yes. Agents never send a claim, settle or close a case on their own; only the evidence preservation notice goes out by rule. The recovery manager signs claims up to $250,000 with a reason code; the Director of Risk and Insurance signs above that, settlements under 80% of the claim, over-cap events and anything with a recklessness question. Every action is on a chained audit trail.
The Agentic Solution Engine builds and deploys it from your requirements and documents — your handling agreements and Annex B terms, hull deductibles and a sample of past ground damage events — and it goes live once every quality gate has passed. We will walk you through it on your own ramp damage cases first.
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