McGee v. Cessna Aircraft Co.
| Decision Date | 18 January 1983 |
| Citation | 139 Cal.App.3d 179,188 Cal.Rptr. 542 |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
| Parties | Helen M. McGEE, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. CESSNA AIRCRAFT COMPANY, Defendant and Respondent. Civ. 22862. |
Magana, Cathcart, McCarthy & Pierry, Daniel C. Cathcart and Deborah Mitzenmacher, Los Angeles, for plaintiff and appellant.
Gray, Cary, Ames & Frye, Rudi M. Brewster, James F. Stiven, Dennis A. Schoville and Stephen T. Landuyt, San Diego, for defendant and respondent.
March 28, 1971, was a clear day. A 177 Cessna Cardinal took off from Warner Springs Airport. Shortly after takeoff the aircraft crashed and burned. Helen M. McGee was burned. Her burns were so severe both legs had to be amputated. McGee sued the manufacturer of the airplane, defendant Cessna Aircraft Company (Cessna). A jury trial resulted in judgment for Cessna. We reversed, holding McGee should have been allowed to present her cause on a theory of strict liability based on Cessna's failure to design a sufficiently crashworthy aircraft. 1
McGee presented her case to a second jury. The jury returned judgment for Cessna. McGee complains this judgment is the result of the trial court's failure to properly limit the evidence and correctly instruct the jury. Five questions are presented in her appeal.
Although we reviewed the facts in McGee v. Cessna Aircraft Co., supra, 82 Cal.App.3d 1005, 147 Cal.Rptr. 694, we again briefly review the facts of the crash and note the evidence in the second trial included additional testimony relating to the aircraft's crashworthiness. Mrs. McGee, a 53-year-old mother of 9, was secretary to the principal of Grossmont High School with approximately 125 hours of flying time when the accident occurred. John H. Hedger owned the Cessna; he used it to teach flying. He taught McGee how to fly. McGee and Hedger were good friends and flew many trips together. McGee would sit in the left-hand, pilot's, seat; Hedger would sit in the right-hand, instructor's, seat. 2 Hedger did not charge McGee for all of their flying hours together, although McGee testified all of their flying hours were instructional as she was a fledgling pilot.
On the day of the accident, Hedger was to observe McGee and a friend and help them with cross-country flying and navigation skills in preparation for a contest. McGee was to fly from Warner Hot Springs to Bakersfield and her friend from Bakersfield to the Nut Tree. The crash occurred approximately a mile from the airport about three minutes after they took off from Warner Hot Springs.
The aircraft took off going east into a wind estimated at around 10 to 15 nautical miles per hour. Only a few moments after takeoff the aircraft turned and crashed into a small hill. The crash site was approximately 135 to 180 feet above the level of the airport. The shortest distance between Warner Hot Springs and Bakersfield would have been to execute a left hand turn from the runway. However, had McGee turned to the right she would have been flying over lower terrain.
When the aircraft crashed, McGee and Hedger were rendered unconscious. The two passengers in the rear seats were thrown forward but not critically injured. All four occupants were wearing seat belts but the aircraft was not equipped with shoulder harnesses. The two passengers in the rear were able to get out of the airplane through the right door. A fire began almost immediately. The passengers tried to get McGee out but they were not strong enough. They dragged Hedger from the aircraft and returned for McGee. McGee's legs were on fire.
Other than some superficial facial injuries, McGee's injuries consisted of third and fourth degree burns. 3 Muscle and bone tissue in both legs were burned; burns on her left leg were concentrated in the calf and the foot extending upwards to the groin area, burns in the right leg were primarily below the knee but extended into the buttock. Both legs were amputated. The amputations, revisions of the stumps, and skin grafting required six separate surgeries, consisting of over 16 hours of surgical procedures.
After 17 months, McGee attempted to return to work. Eventually, due to the pain and the effects of her medication, she had to quit and she has been unemployed since.
Experts on both sides testified as to general principles of flight, aerodynamics, flight regulations, standard flying procedures particularly those relating to Warner Hot Springs Airport, and the history, design, development and specifications of the 177 Cardinal Cessna relating both to the aircraft's flying capabilities and its crashworthiness. Rather than review this extensive and complicated evidence, we will discuss only that testimony relevant to the issues raised in this appeal.
Both parties agree McGee's severe and permanent injuries were caused by the post-crash fire. McGee maintains the fire was caused by Cessna's failure to design a sufficiently crashworthy aircraft. She asks "Why, in a clearly survivable crash, the aircraft did not protect [her] from enhanced injuries sustained by collision with the interior of the aircraft and exposure to the fire?" Cessna rebuts claiming the fire was a natural result of a violent crash and the Cessna 177 Cardinal was sufficiently crashworthy.
McGee asserts this court has the power to determine the extent to which the issues in a complex case may be limited on retrial. (Hasson v. Ford Motor Co., 19 Cal.3d 530, 138 Cal.Rptr. 705, 564 P.2d 857.) McGee argues, based on Evidence Code sections 350 and 352, evidence concerning who piloted the aircraft and why the aircraft crashed should be excluded. Had McGee brought this action solely to recover damages for enhanced injuries suffered from the design defect relating to crashworthiness we might be inclined to agree. She did not present her case to the jury on this single theory. She argued two basis for liability alleging two separate design defects: the aircraft was built with flight design defects and the aircraft was not crashworthy. McGee offered evidence to prove the aircraft could not fly according to specifications and evidence the aircraft did not sufficiently protect the cockpit occupants in the event of a crash. Her principal argument at trial and the greatest volume of evidence presented related to her claim the crash was caused by flight design defects. Whether liability for the flight design defect is argued on negligence theory or strict liability theory, Cessna is entitled to prove the cause of the accident was the pilot of the aircraft and not the design of the aircraft. Therefore, who was flying the plane and why the plane crashed is relevant for both the plaintiff's cause and the defendant's claim of comparative negligence. (Daly v. General Motors Corp., 20 Cal.3d 725, 144 Cal.Rptr. 380, 575 P.2d 1162.)
Cessna argues even if plaintiff's case were restricted to crashworthiness, Cessna should be permitted to attempt to show the crash itself was of such severity it was the sole proximate cause of the injuries and supercedes any defective design. In Self v. General Motors Corp., 42 Cal.App.3d 1, 116 Cal.Rptr. 575 and Endicott v. Nissan Motor Corp., 73 Cal.App.3d 917, 141 Cal.Rptr. 95, defendants were permitted to present evidence supporting this argument.
In Trust Corp. of Mont. v. Piper Aircraft Corp. (D.Mont.1981) 506 F.Supp. 1093, the court discussed what type of evidence is relevant to Cessna's argument. The court held the plaintiff could not limit his claim to enhanced injuries in a crashworthiness case in order to preclude the aircraft manufacturer from introducing evidence of the plaintiff's negligence. The court relied upon Daly stating: "[I]nquiry focuses on the product design as an integrated whole, and a consideration of all the factors that contributed to the event which caused the injury." (Trust Corp. of Mont. v. Piper Aircraft Corp., at p. 1098.) The court continued: "[A]n examination of all the circumstances (eg. speed, angle, weight, etc.), prior to and after impact is proper in fairness to the parties." (Ibid.)
Even though some of McGee's conduct would be relevant on a strict liability for enhanced injuries cause of action in order to determine such things as speed, angle, and direction of impact, under California law Evidence Code section 352, evidence which is more prejudicial than probative must be excluded. In this trial much evidence was admitted relevant to Cessna's negligence and strict liability for airworthiness design but irrelevant to whether the aircraft was crashworthy. On negligence theory as to the cause of the crash this evidence would be more probative than prejudicial, but on strict liability for crashworthiness much of this evidence is clearly prejudicial and should be excluded. For example, evidence showed McGee and her flight instructor, Hedger, were romantically involved. Hedger convinced McGee to tell the FAA she had more flying experience than she did. McGee inflated her flying hours in a report to the FAA in order to insure Hedger's insurance policy would cover the accident. Both Hedger and McGee denied they were controlling the aircraft when it crashed. On a strict liability for crashworthiness theory this extremely prejudicial evidence would not be probative for any cause of the fire relating to the speed, angle, direction, weight, etc. of the impact. (See Daly v. General Motors Corp., supra, 20 Cal.3d 725, 744-746, 144 Cal.Rptr. 380, 575 P.2d 1162, evidence of intoxication was "inflamatory.") On the other hand, whether McGee was actually flying the airplane is critical for an analysis of comparative negligence on the theory of the aircraft's airworthiness. Since McGee argued her case on both theories, it cannot be held to be error for the court to admit the evidence.
McGee asserts the trial court's failure to instruct the jury to shift the burden of proving proximate cause...
To continue reading
Request your trial