Executive Jet Aviation, Inc. v. City Of Cleveland

409 U.S. 249 (1972)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

A jet owned by P, struck a flock of seagulls as it was taking off from the Burke Lakefront Airport. The plane lost its power, crashed, and sank in the navigable waters of Lake Erie, a short distance from the airport. The plane was manned by a pilot, a co-pilot, and a stewardess, and was departing Cleveland on a charter flight to Portland, Maine, where it was to pick up passengers and then continue to White Plains, New York. After being cleared for takeoff the plane became airborne at about half the distance down the runway. The takeoff flushed the seagulls on the runway, and they rose into the airspace directly ahead of the ascending plane. Ingestion of the birds into the plane's jet engines caused an almost total loss of power. Descending back toward the runway in a semi-stalled condition, the plane veered slightly to the left, struck a portion of the airport perimeter fence and the top of a nearby pickup truck, and then settled in Lake Erie just off the end of the runway and less than one-fifth of a statute mile offshore. There were no injuries to the crew, but the aircraft soon sank and became a total loss. P brought suit under 28 U. S. C. § 1333 (1) alleging that the crash had been caused by Ds' negligent failure to keep the runway free of the birds or to give adequate warning of their presence. The District Court held that the suit was not cognizable in admiralty and dismissed the complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. It held that admiralty jurisdiction over torts may properly be invoked only when two criteria are met: (1) the locality where the alleged tortious wrong occurred must have been on navigable waters; and (2) there must have been a relationship between the wrong and some maritime service, navigation, or commerce on navigable waters. The court concluded that the wrong bore no relationship to maritime service, navigation, or commerce. The Court of Appeals affirmed that 'the alleged tort in this case occurred on land before the aircraft reached Lake Erie. P appealed.