Opinion ID: 155809
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: San Juan Summary Judgment

Text: In addition to her claims against Mesa, Mrs. Almegard also brought suit against San Juan, the owner of the crash aircraft, alleging it had negligently entrusted the plane to Feazell. Concluding Mrs. Almegard had failed to create an issue of fact whether San Juan knew or should have known of the alleged dangers of the fatal flight, the district court granted San Juan’s summary judgment. Mrs. Almegard bases her claim on various sections of the Restatement (Second) of Torts which hold lessors and suppliers of chattels liable for negligently failing to make the chattel safe or disclose the chattel’s dangerous condition. See, e.g., Restatement (Second) of Torts §§ 390, 408 (1965). She argues San Juan knew or should have known the aircraft in question was defective and failed to make the aircraft safe. Alternatively, Mrs. Almegard maintains San Juan knew or should have known Feazell was unfit to fly the airplane. We will address these contentions in turn. According to plaintiff, the aircraft in question was defective because it was not pressurized and it did not have a portable or permanent oxygen system on board. However, this aircraft can be safely operated at a wide range of altitudes. Here, the -9- record reveals Feazell could have chosen to fly on a route where oxygen was not required. In fact, the accident occurred at an altitude at which the FAA does not even require the use of oxygen. See, e.g., 14 C.F.R. § 91.211 (1997). With the record before us, we cannot conclude the airplane was defective merely because it lacked an oxygen system. Plaintiff also maintains San Juan knew or should have known Feazell was unfit to pilot the plane because Feazell regularly failed to follow procedures and was fatigued. The record reveals pilot Feazell made numerous errors prior to the fatal flight. He did not file a flight plan, failed to initiate flight following, and did not monitor the airplane’s altitude relative to the surrounding terrain. While this may demonstrate negligence on Feazell’s part, we can find no evidence in the record San Juan knew or should have known Feazell would have made these errors. At most, the record demonstrates San Juan knew Feazell had a habit of “borrowing” aircraft without signing the aircraft out; thus, San Juan could not appropriately track airplane hours for billing purposes. Such evidence is not probative of the issues in this case.