Joye N. Pierson, Individually and as Administratrix of the Estate of Douglas J. Pierson, Deceased v. United States

This case comes to us on an appeal from an order of the district court granting the motion of the United States for summary judgment against Mrs. Pierson in her suit under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1346 (1970). Our jurisdiction rests on 28 U.S.C. § 1291 (1970). The district court held that as a matter of law the facts before it did not support a cause of action under the Federal Tort Claims Act and dismissed Mrs. Pierson’s suit. This constitutes error. We reverse and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I.

Facts.

The facts are somewhat unusual. In brief, plaintiff’s husband, Douglas Pier-son, was killed in the crash of a United States Army aircraft on August 6, 1969 in the State of Washington. Mr. Pierson was then employed as a biologist by the State of Washington and was involved in radio-tracking elk on the Olympic Peninsula. We assume, without deciding, that this endeavor, although partially federally funded, was for all relevant purposes a state project.

In the early part of August 1969, Dr. Wendell Dodge, a United States Department of the Interior research biologist working for the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife,…