Griffin

I. Background

In September 2001, Kevin Jensen was piloting a plane and approaching the runway of the Carson City Airport when his plane crashed in the backyard of appellant Robert Griffin, pin- ning Griffin down and causing him to sustain severe injuries. His medical expenses topped $200,000. Jensen had purchased the plane only a few months earlier and had bought insurance through Old Republic Insurance Company.

In April 2002, Griffin filed suit in state court against Jensen and his wife, seeking recovery for damages from the crash. Shortly thereafter, Old Republic filed an action for a declara- tory judgment that it had no obligation to pay any damages to Griffin or Jensen because the accident was excluded from coverage. Specifically, the company alleged that because Jen- sen failed to have an annual inspection performed on the air- craft as required by the airworthiness provisions of the policy, the accident was excluded from coverage. Griffin argued, in turn, that the airworthiness exclusion was unreasonable and could not be interpreted to require an annual inspection. He also contended that Nevada law supported adopting a causal connection requirement, thus permitting…