Earl E. Komie v. Buehler Corporation, an Indiana Corporation, Buehler Corporation and James Bechtel

Earl E. Komie, plaintiff-appellee, was injured when a jet powered motor boat in which he was riding collided with a canyon wall in the Colorado River gorge of the Grand Canyon. Komie was a geologist employed by the Bureau of Reclamation, which had arranged an expedi tion for exhibiting potential dam sites to some of its geologists. The Bureau contracted with the defendant Belknap Photographic Services, Inc., to organize and supervise the expedition, and to furnish the necessary equipment, supplies and services. The supplier of the jet boats was the defendant-appellant Buehler Corporation, which contracted with the Bureau of Reclamation to provide three jet boats and one driver. The driver was the defendant-appellant, James Bechtel.

On June 26, 1965, the defendant Bechtel was piloting a boat known as the Triangle, in which Komie was riding, when it collided with the canyon wall in an area known as the “231 Mile Rapid.” Plaintiff brought suit against the Bueh-ler Corporation, Bechtel, Belknap Photographic Services, Inc., and William Belk-nap, Jr. The action was dismissed without prejudice as to the defendants Belk-nap Photographic Services, Inc., and William Belknap, Jr., following…