Wanda J. Bequette, Administratrix of the Estate of William T. Fouche, Deceased v. National Insurance Underwriters, Inc.

This is an appeal from a summary judgment in an action brought by National Insurance Underwriters, Inc., the appellee, for a declaration of its liability under a policy of insurance issued to Captain William T. Fouche and Major Wilder Rice to cover them for certain risks attendant to the operation of their private single engine airplane. The controversy arose after the airplane crashed, killing Captain Fouche, the pilot, and his two passengers, Roger Clark Sehuette and Byron B. Powelson. After wrongful death actions against Fouche’s estate had been filed in the state court of Alaska by the heirs of Sehuette and Powelson and the representatives of their estates, National initiated suit in the District Court against the estates of all three men, alleging that coverage was not provided under the terms of its policy and seeking a declaratory judgment to that effect.

The District Court’s conclusion of no coverage was based on an exclusion clause of the policy which provides that liability coverage does not apply:

The relevant requirements, as specified in Item 7, read as follows:

(Emphasis added.)

The “pilot [s] named or designated in Section 1” are listed as Rice, Fouche and “any…