Steinbock

The Schiewes and Miss Nechanicky were guests of Steinbock in his Piper Comanche airplane on the evening of August 14, 1963, at Klamath Falls, Oregon. The initial phases of take-off had been completed, the landing gear had been retracted, and the plane was climbing. At an altitude of about 75 feet above the airfield, the engine began to sputter. Stein-bock attempted some emergency procedures which were unsuccessful. The plane crashed and the three guest passengers were injured.

Oregon has a guest statute 1 insulating operators from claims brought by guests for simple negligence. The plaintiffs pleaded gross negligence when they brought this diversity action. The trial court sent the case to the jury. Verdicts were rendered for the plaintiffs as follows: Mrs. Schiewe, $12,000; MrSchiewe, $1,200; and Miss Nechanicky, $2,000.

Steinbock appeals on the ground there was no evidence of gross negligence-Mr. Schiewe and Miss Nechanicky cross-appeal on the ground their awards were unreasonably low. We affirm on both appeals.

As to gross negligence, we have reviewed the Oregon cases and we think the trial court’s submission of gross negligence 2 to the jury was permissible under those…