Management Activities, Inc. v. United States

Good Law

21 F. Supp. 2d 1157·99 Daily Journal DAR 3301·1998 WL 658598·1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15038

United States District Court, Central District of CaliforniaSeptember 11, 1998CV 94-8313 JMI (CTx), CV 95-0144 JMI (CTx), CV 95-5540 JMI (CTx), CV 95-5542 JMI (CTx) and CV 95-5946 JMI (CTx)California12,296 words

Opinion

Ideman, J.

ORDER

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED:

FOREWORD

This Order will dispose of litigation arising from a plane crash at John Wayne Airport in Orange County in December 1993. Succinctly put, a Westwind business jet with five people aboard ■ encountered the turbulence created from a United commercial jet landing ahead of the Westwind. The Westwind crashed, killing all five people aboard. This action against the Government claims negligence on the part of FAA Headquarters as well as negligence by the Air Traffic Controllers at or near John Wayne Airport.

As will be seen, this Court concludes in Part III of this Order that the doctrine of Discretionary Function bars action against FAA Headquarters. The Court further concludes in Part IV that the Plaintiffs have failed to prove negligence on the part of any or all of the Air Traffic Controllers at or near John Wayne Airport.

As a result of these findings, this Court GRANTS Judgment for the Government.

I. INTRODUCTION

This litigation arises from an aircraft accident at John Wayne Airport, Santa Ana, California, on December 15, 1993, at 1733:18 Pacific Standard Time, involving an Israel Aircraft Industries Westwind II business jet (“Westwind”),…

Sign in to read the full opinion

Create a free account to read the complete opinion text, citation history, and good-law status for this case.