White

The industry standard in the aircraft rental business requires a pilot to complete a “high altitude checkout” before being permitted to rent an aircraft for a flight to a “high altitude” airport. Although defendant Inbound Aviation had a policy incorporating just such a requirement, it knowingly permitted a young inexperienced pilot who had not completed a high altitude checkout to rent an airplane for a flight to the South Lake Tahoe airport, a challenging and dangerous high altitude airport. Due to his inexperience and lack of requisite knowledge and skill, the pilot made a very basic error and crashed the aircraft while attempting a takeoff from the South Lake Tahoe airport. The crash killed the pilot and his two passengers. The parents of one of the passengers sued defendant Inbound Aviation, the partners who owned Inbound Aviation, the owner of the aircraft and the pilot. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the parents. Defendants (other than the pilot) appeal and claim that (1) the jury’s verdict is not supported by the evidence because there is no evidence that the pilot was not “competent,” (2) the jury instructions were confusing and prejudicially erroneous,…