Alaska Airlines, Inc. v. Northwest Airlines, Inc.

An airplane owned and operated by the appellant (Alaska) crashed during an attempted landing at an airfield on Shemya Island, Alaska. The air facility was operated by the appellee (Northwest) under a lease agreement made between it and the Government of the United States. Alaska sued Northwest, claiming that the latter was negligent in the operation of the airport facility and that such negligence was the proximate cause of the disaster. While Alaska sought to prove that Northwest was negligent in several particulars, its principal contention was that certain necessary lighting was inoperative at the time of the attempted landing. The trial extended over a period of approximately four weeks, and the District Court, sitting without jury, made factual findings which were adverse to the appellant in all respects. It was found, inter alia, that all of Northwest’s lighting equipment was fully operative immediately before and at the time of the crash. It was further determined that Alaska had not fulfilled its burden to establish that Northwest was negligent or that any act or omission on the part of Northwest contributed as a proximate cause of the accident. The evidence was expertly…