Olsen ex rel. Sheldon v. Government of Mexico

An airplane owned and operated by the Mexican government (Mexico) (defendant) was carrying prisoners to Tijuana, where the prisoners were to be transferred to authorities for incarceration. There was decreased visibility due to dense fog. Rather than attempt a visual landing at another airport, the pilots requested navigational instrument assistance to land at the Tijuana airport. The plane was permitted to cross the border and into United States airspace so that it could approach its landing at the Tijuana airport from the west. The Tijuana airport radar and navigational system was not operating, so Tijuana air controllers asked San Diego air controllers to radio all the data necessary for landing to the pilots. Instead, the San Diego air controllers relayed the information by telephone to the Tijuana air controllers, who radioed their translation to the pilots. The pilots continued to use the navigational data provided by the San Diego air controllers but failed to maintain proper altitude. Due to this pilot error, the airplane struck a pole and crashed less than a mile inside the United States, killing everyone on board. Erin Olsen and Ursula Sanchez (plaintiffs), minor children of the prisoners, filed suit in federal court, claiming that Mexico—specifically, the negligence of the pilots—had caused the wrongful death of their parents. Mexico challenged the court’s subject-matter jurisdiction under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA). The case was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. Olsen and Sanchez appealed.