Coleman v. Windham Aviation
Rhode Island Superior Court
2005 WL 1793907 (2005)
- Written by Angela Patrick, JD
Facts
A Cessna was taxiing onto a runway for takeoff when a Piper piloted by Brooks Kay (defendant) landed on the same runway, colliding with the Cessna and killing both of its occupants. Christine Coleman (plaintiff), the widow of one of the Cessna’s occupants, sued Kay and the Piper’s owner, Windham Aviation, Inc. (Windham) (defendant). Before trial on the issue of Kay’s negligence, Coleman moved for summary judgment on the issue of vicarious liability. Coleman claimed that, as a matter of state law, Windham was vicariously liable for any damages caused by Kay’s alleged negligence. Windham did not dispute that it owned the Piper or that it had allowed Kay to fly it. Instead, Windham argued that federal law applied and protected an aircraft owner from being held vicariously liable for someone else’s operation of the owner’s aircraft.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Thompson, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 781,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,200 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
