Mittelman

I

Minor plaintiffs (Linda D., Paul B., and Kirk E. Mittelman) by their guardian ad litem (Florence C. Hind) appeal from a judgment in a wrongful death action, on a 9-3 verdict, denying recovery based on the death of their parents, Joseph and Edna Mittelman. They were killed, along with the pilot, Charles J. Seifert, Jr., about 2:50 a.m. March 19, 1966, when 10 days after he acquired it Seifert’s twin engine Apache airplane crashed one-quarter to one-half mile northeasterly of the end óf the runway of the Half Moon Bay Airport; from whence they were returning on the 20-25 mile flight to Palo Alto Airport. The evidence established that Seifert was the pilot at the moment of impact.

The crash was at high speed, 1 on a 10 percent slope near the adjacent hilltop resulting in complete disintegration of the plane and its riders. Human body parts were strewn over the path of collision from one-and-a-half to two blocks.

It was stipulated that at the time of the impact, the Apache aircraft *56 was traveling with the right wing in a near vertical downward position and the nose of the plane down. The magnetic heading of its course, as shown by the distribution of the wreckage was…

I concur in the reversal of the judgment pursuant to the error in the instruction on business purpose under the recently announced rule of Bozanich v. Kenney, 3 Cal.3d 567 [ 91 Cal.Rptr. 286 , 477 P.2d 142 ]. However, I cannot agree that the judgment should be reversed with directions to enter a judgment in favor of plaintiffs on the ground that Seifert was guilty of wilful and wanton misconduct as a matter of law.

In arriving at the nine factors upon which they predicate their legal conclusion that Seifert committed wilful and wanton misconduct, 1 the majority has departed from the well established rule of appellate review. Where the evidence, though undisputed or without conflict, reasonably *82 permits differing inferences, this court must accept those inferences supportive of the jury’s verdict. The fact that inferences other than those which have been drawn by a jury may appear to an appellate tribunal to be more reasonable does not afford sufficient justification for disturbing the judgment on appeal (Hamilton v. Pacific Elec. Ry. Co., 12 Cal.2d 598, 602 [ 86 P.2d 829 ]). I agree that the evidence here would have abundantly supported a jury’s finding of wilful and wanton…

Minor plaintiffs (Linda D., Paul B., and Kirk E. Mittelman) by their guardian ad litem (Florence C. Hind) appeal from a judgment in a wrongful death action, on a 9-3 verdict, denying recovery based on the death of their parents, Joseph and Edna Mittelman. They were killed, along with the pilot, Charles J. Seifert, Jr., about 2:50 a.m. March 19, 1966, when 10 days after he acquired it Seifert's twin engine Apache airplane crashed one-quarter to one-half mile northeasterly of the end of the runway of the Half Moon Bay Airport; from whence they were returning on the 20-25 mile flight to Palo Alto Airport. The evidence established that Seifert was the pilot at the moment of impact.

The crash was at high speed, [1] on a 10 percent slope near the adjacent hilltop resulting in complete disintegration of the plane and its riders. Human body parts were strewn over the path of collision from one-and-a-half to two blocks.

It was stipulated that at the time of the impact, the Apache aircraft was traveling with the right wing in a near vertical downward position and the nose of the plane down. The magnetic heading of its course, as shown by the distribution of the…