Opinion ID: 417705
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Flights

Text: 19 If the jury found by a preponderance of the evidence that Landy and IAL operated the plane in air commerce for compensation or hire, the next step was to identify the flights. Landy and IAL raise three issues here. 20 A. The Flight List. Violations of FARs occur when an aircraft is in operation. Further, the civil penalty scheme of the Federal Aviation Act makes each day of continuing violations a separate offense. The Government therefore put in documentary as well as testimonial evidence (such as the plane's log book and pilot's deposition) from which the jury could find as fact that specific flights had occurred. The court permitted a list of these alleged flights to accompany the jury, and Landy objects because the list was never offered in evidence. At trial, however, his objections were different. He successfully objected to the inclusion of references to exhibits or testimony purporting to establish each flight. He unsuccessfully objected to including flights that were not alleged in the Government's pleadings. Under the Federal Rules, however, when issues not raised by the pleadings are tried by express or implied consent of the parties, the pleadings are, in effect, amended. Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(b). If Landy and IAL felt that admitting evidence as to those flights prejudiced their defense on the merits, the appropriate response would have been to move for a continuance. Id. As to the grounds raised here for the first time, we simply note that Judge Carter stated that the list contains the dates and flights on which the government alleges that there were violations; some 43 are listed. So far as we can see this was a perfectly proper aid to the jury in its deliberations on a factual issue. Compare First Virginia Bankshares v. Benson, 559 F.2d 1307, 1315 (5th Cir.1977) (court permissibly gave jury written outline of elements necessary to convict defendant), cert. denied, 435 U.S. 952, 98 S.Ct. 1580, 55 L.Ed.2d 802 (1978) and Shane v. Warner Manufacturing Corp., 229 F.2d 207, 209-10 (3d Cir.) (court permissibly gave jury written computation of damages prepared by plaintiff's counsel), appeal dismissed, 351 U.S. 959, 76 S.Ct. 860, 100 L.Ed. 1481 (1956); with United States v. Adams, 385 F.2d 548, 550-51 (2d Cir.1967) (court impermissibly gave jury incriminating writings by government agent which had not been received in evidence). 21 B. The Log Book. Appellants raise as error the admission in evidence of the aircraft log book. The basis of their objection was lack of foundation, authenticity, completeness, and accuracy. There was deposition testimony from a pilot, however, that he was required to fill out a maintenance log on each flight and that maintenance problems would be routinely noted in the log. This, coupled with the testimony of John Burns of IAL that the log book was kept on the aircraft and that it was reviewed regularly in the course of business, supports admissibility as a record within the ambit of Federal Rule of Evidence 803(6). 22 C. Jurisdiction Over Foreign Flights. On June 3, 1977, the plane transported cargo from San Jose, Costa Rica, to Caracas, Venezuela; on July 10, 11, 12, 14 and 15, 1977, the plane, subleased to LANICA, the Nicaraguan National Airlines, flew meat from Managua, Nicaragua, to Caracas, Venezuela. We are asked to consider whether the FAA properly could assert jurisdiction over these foreign flights. 23 We have set forth the regulatory scheme above. The Federal Aviation Administration's mandate is to promote the safety of flight of civil aircraft in air commerce, 49 U.S.C. Sec. 1421(a)(6), and it is air commerce of commercial operations that is regulated by Part 121 of 14 C.F.R. Air commerce is defined by the Act to mean interstate, overseas or foreign air commerce ... or any operation or navigation of aircraft which directly affects, or which may endanger safety in, interstate, overseas or foreign air commerce. 49 U.S.C. Sec. 1301(4) (emphasis added). The safety of foreign air commerce--the carriage by aircraft of ... property ... for compensation or hire ... in commerce between ... a place in the United States and any place outside thereof 49 U.S.C. Sec. 1301(24)(c)--may most certainly be endangered on the facts proved at trial. The endangerment is twofold. First, other United States planes fly from the United States to these international airports, including scheduled passenger flights to Caracas and San Jose. Second, the plane at all times employed a United States crew supplied by Air-Trans. Recognizing that the term air commerce will be broadly construed to effectuate a valid congressional purpose, see, e.g., United States v. Healy, 376 U.S. 75, 83-85, 84 S.Ct. 553, 558-559, 11 L.Ed.2d 527 (1964); United States v. Busick, 592 F.2d 13, 20 (2d Cir.1978), we do not find that appellants have raised any compelling arguments against FAA jurisdiction over these flights. We distinguish Hansen v. Arabian American Oil Co., 100 F.Supp. 183, 184-85 (E.D.N.Y.1951), aff'd on other grounds, 195 F.2d 682 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 344 U.S. 828, 73 S.Ct. 31, 97 L.Ed. 645 (1952), where the operation of a private plane solely within a foreign country was held not within the ambit of the FAA rules. We specifically reject the contention that jurisdiction intrudes into the sovereignty of a foreign power. Quite simply, the FAA is fining an American entrepreneur and business entity, not the national airline of Nicaragua. If LANICA in fact had operational control of the plane, rather than Landy, IAL, and the Air-Trans crew, there would not have been any violation of Part 121 regulations.