Nachsin

The facts were stipulated in the trial court:

Plaintiff Sylvia Nachsin is the widow and sole heir of Samuel Nachsin who died when the Piper Cherokee aircraft in which he was riding as an occupant crashed on June 19, 1966, as the proximate result of the pilot’s negligence. Plaintiff’s damage was $50,000.

The pilot operated the airplane with defendant owner Charles De La Bretonne’s permission, but De La Bretonne himself was not negligent.

May the pilot’s negligence be imputed to the owner?

The trial court held for defendant, concluding as of June 16, 1966 the pilot’s negligence was not imputable to the airplane’s nonnegligent owner; and the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 did not create a civil remedy based upon imputed negligence in the circumstances.

At common law negligence of the pilot alone, absent any inde pendent negligence of the owner or any special relationship between owner and pilot, is not imputable to the owner.

At the time of the crash, June 16, 1966, the California Aeronautics Act, Public Utilities Code, section 21404 provided the liability of the owner or pilot of an airplane for damages to passengers is determined, by the law applicable to torts on the…