American Airlines v. Ulen

186 F.2d 529 (1949)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Ulen (P) were passengers on a plane that crashed. The plane belonged to American Airlines (D). P sued D and D admitted the facts but denied negligence. Interrogatories were sent to D, and with those answers, P filed a motion for summary judgment. Those interrogatories revealed that D had its plane fly on a flight path that was in violation of Civil Air Regulation 61.7401 regarding flight of at least 1,000 feet over the highest obstacles in the flight path. It was clear from the interrogatories that D's plane was flying in violation of that rule D filed an amended answer that limited the total recovery to $8,291.87 under the Warsaw convention. The motion for summary judgment was granted, and the case was assigned to a jury to determine damages. P won the verdict. D appealed.