*LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Four crashes this month have already made
August the worst month for aircraft losses in more than three years,
according to a major insurance broker.*

The string of crashes has caused the loss of aircraft with a total
insured hull value of over $170 million, said Aon Corp, the world's
second-largest insurance broker. The latest loss estimate is $182
million, an industry source said.

The most expensive loss was the Air France Airbus A340-300, which
crashed and burst in flames after landing at Toronto's Pearson
International Airport on August 3, although all crew and passengers
survived. The aircraft was insured for $136 million, according to an
industry source.

Also this month, a Helios Airways Boeing Co. 737 plane crashed into a
mountain near Athens, a West Caribbean Airways MD-82 airliner crashed in
Venezuela near its border with Colombia and a Tuninter ATR regional
plane crashed off the coast of Sicily.

These crashes have made August the highest loss month since May 2002,
when an Air China Boeing 747 crashed into the sea off Taiwan, killing
206 people, said Aon.

It is unclear at the moment how much insurers will have to pay out in
compensation to the victims of the crashes. These sums sometimes exceed
the amounts paid to the airlines for the loss of the aircraft.

The string of crashes comes at a difficult time for airlines and their
insurers as most major international airlines will seek to renew their
insurance policies in the next few months.