Opinion ID: 608155
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Plaintiff

Text: 6 Pan Am contends the trial court erred in granting the Port Authority's motion for judgment as a matter of law for two reasons. First, Pan Am argues that it offered sufficient evidence to establish each element of its negligence claim against the Port Authority and, therefore, a clear question of fact for the jury existed. Pan Am maintains it clearly demonstrated that: (1) the Port Authority owed a duty of care in maintaining JFK's taxiways; (2) the Port Authority breached this duty by failing to sand the taxiways which it knew were covered by ice, or, in the alternative, by failing to close the taxiway; (3) the Port Authority's sand trucks accelerated into the path of the Pan Am aircraft and forced the pilot to use the reverse thrust, thereby causing the engine to ingest ice; and (4) the engine's damage was due to the Port Authority's negligent maintenance of the taxiways. 7 Second, Pan Am contends the district court erred in not allowing the jury to assess the question of whether the Port Authority breached a statutory duty owed to Pan Am. Pan Am asserts that such a duty arises from N.Y. COMP.CODES R. & REGS. tit. 21, § 1262.5 (1983), which states the following in pertinent part: All ground self-propelled vehicles shall yield the right-of-way to any and all aircraft in motion, except emergency equipment which shall have tower clearance when responding to an alarm. According to Pan Am, because the Port Authority sand trucks attempted to accelerate into the aircraft's path and did not yield the right of way to the aircraft, the Port Authority breached the statutory duty imposed by N.Y. COMP.CODES R. & REGS. tit. 21, § 1262.5. As to this issue, Pan Am argues it presented enough evidence to establish the existence of a statutory duty and a breach thereof. Therefore, Pan Am maintains the district court improperly refused to allow the case to go to the jury. 8 In addition to challenging the trial court's grant of defendant's motion, Pan Am also argues the trial court erred in refusing to qualify Robert M. McMullen as an expert witness. Pan Am cites McMullen's experience as an air traffic controller and accident investigator to demonstrate his qualifications as an expert. As further evidence of McMullen's qualifications, Pan Am points to the fact that McMullen has served as an expert witness on behalf of the federal government and private parties in various federal trials. Because of his background, Pan Am asserts McMullen possessed the requisite knowledge, skill, experience, training and education to qualify as an expert under FED.R.EVID. 702.