Jean C. Potts, Widow and Beneficiary of John F. Potts, Deceased v. Continental Casualty Company, an Illinois Corporation

In this diversity case, to which Arizona law applies, there is but one question. Was the death of appellant’s husband, which occurred in an airplane crash, a “loss, . . . resulting from . . . flying in any aircraft . . . operated by the employer”? If so, the loss was excluded from coverage. The trial court held that the airplane was “operated” by the employer, and gave judgment for ap-pellee. We affirm.

The decedent, Potts, was employed by the Salvation Army. The airplane was leased by the Army for the purpose of transporting some of its personnel, including Potts, to a camp operated by the Army, where the crash occurred. The lease was for a two-hour round trip to and from the camp. The airplane was piloted by one Wycoff, a full-time employee of the Army. He had a non-commercial pilot’s license, and had piloted airplanes for the Army on other occasions. This, however, was not his regular job. The Army had no interest in the airplane other than the brief lease; it was owned and maintained by another company, from which it was leased.

Appellant relies on the doctrine that an ambiguity in an insurance policy is to be construed against the insurer, particularly when an exclusionary…