I recently came across this article:

<https://dailyfintech.com/2016/01/14/what-does-the-future-hold-for-blockchain-and-insurance/>

There they claim to have built an Flight Insurance Smart Contract called InsurEth (to insure against flight delays), and they say this:

> 
> "In this case, a delayed flight is a matter of fact and public record.
>  It does not rely on anyone’s judgement or individual assessment. It is
>  what it is. If the event occurs, the smart contract gets triggered and
>  the pay out is made. Automatic and immediate, with no claims
>  processing costs for the insurer and satisfaction for the customer."
> 
> 
> 

How is this possible?

As far as I know a Smart Contract cannot execute itself out of nothing, someone or something has always to do a transaction calling a payback method, and only then, the funds can be paid out.

As far as I can see, for insurances, there always needs to be a human validation, to confirm that an event really happened.

Or how could this work in the way they describe?