National Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania v. Rick, s. 1
| Decision Date | 09 November 1982 |
| Docket Number | CA-CIV,Nos. 1,s. 1 |
| Citation | 654 P.2d 56,134 Ariz. 122 |
| Parties | NATIONAL UNION FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, a Pennsylvania corporation; the Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania, a Pennsylvania corporation, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Karen Lynn RICK, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Estates of Billie Eugene Andrews and Jolene Andrews, deceased; John Leslie Andrews; David Wayne Andrews, by and through his Guardian Karen Lynn Rick; Viola Darlene Catchings, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Thomas Catchings, deceased; Dawn Marie Catchings, by and through her next friend, Viola Darlene Catchings, Defendants-Appellants. COMPASS INSURANCE COMPANY, a New York corporation, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Mary SMITH, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Robert D. Smith, deceased; Sandra A. Connolly, Barbara Black and Robin Smith, Heirs of Robert D. Smith; Gary Emberlin, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Debbie Emberlin, deceased; Holly Emberlin and Stephen Emberlin, by and through their Next of Friend, Gary Emberlin; Jeffrey D. Carlson and Christopher D. Carlson, by and through their Guardians, Sandra A. Connolly and Robert Connolly; and John O'Hara, Personal Representative of the Estate of David Carlson, deceased, Defendants-Appellants. 5374, 1 6047. |
| Court | Arizona Court of Appeals |
Charles M. Brewer, Ltd. by Stuart J. Reilly, Phoenix, for defendants-appellants.
Warner Angle Roper & Hallam by Charles R. Hallam, Phoenix, for plaintiffs-appellees.
This is a consolidated appeal from two separate declaratory judgment actions which raise identical legal issues. The two main issues raised in each action are: (1) whether a provision in an aviation liability insurance policy excluding coverage to renter-pilots is void as against public policy and (2) whether the exclusionary provisions are ambiguous.
The facts giving rise to the action in 1 CA-CIV 5374 are as follows. On June 13, 1977, Susan Elizabeth McCoy rented a 1972 Cessna aircraft from Precision Helicopter Service, Inc. (Precision) for the purpose of making a round trip pleasure flight from Glendale to Prescott. During an attempted landing at Glendale Municipal Airport, the aircraft, piloted by Ms. McCoy, crashed into a cement truck owned by Allied Concrete, Inc., killing Ms. McCoy, her passengers, Billie Eugene Andrews and Jolene Andrews and Thomas Catchings, the truck driver.
The personal representatives of the Andrews and Catchings estate and heirs of the deceased filed wrongful death actions against numerous defendants including Precision and the Estate of Susan Elizabeth McCoy. Allied Concrete and its insurer also filed suit against Precision and the Estate of Susan Elizabeth McCoy for damages to the cement truck.
The aircraft was owned by Eugene Hill who had leased it to Precision for the purpose of rental on an hourly basis to qualified pilots. At the time of the crash both Hill and Precision were covered by liability policies issued by National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh (National), and Precision had an additional insurance policy from The Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania). National and Pennsylvania brought a declaratory judgment action in Maricopa County Superior Court seeking a determination that Ms. McCoy was not an insured under their policies issued to Precision and Hill. They sought a declaration absolving the companies from responsibility for defending the Estate of Susan Elizabeth McCoy in the lawsuits brought on behalf of the various decedents and heirs.
The trial court entered summary judgment in favor of National and Pennsylvania and this appeal was timely filed on behalf of the decedents' estates and heirs.
Similar circumstances led to the litigation in appeal 1 CA-CIV 6047. On April 16, 1977, David Carlson rented a 1977 Grumann American "Cheetah" Model AA5A, from June's Aviation, Inc. (June's Aviation) for a pleasure flight from Falcon Field in Mesa, Arizona, to Flagstaff, Arizona. The aircraft crashed with Mr. Carlson at the controls and resulted in the deaths of the pilot and his passengers, Robert D. Smith, Debbie Emberlin and Claudia Jean Carlson. The personal representatives of the estates of the deceased passengers filed suit against June's Aviation and the Estate of David Carlson. The defense of these claims was tendered to Compass Insurance Company (Compass) on behalf of the Estate of David Carlson.
Compass filed a declaratory judgment action in Maricopa County Superior Court seeking a determination that David Carlson was not an insured under its policy. At the time of the crash, June's Aviation had in effect a liability insurance policy issued by Compass containing an exclusionary provision identical to those in the policies issued by National and Pennsylvania. The trial court granted Compass's motion for summary judgment, holding that Compass had no liability to defend the Estate of David Carlson. The estates and heirs of the decedents and June's Aviation appealed this decision.
Pursuant to a stipulation of the parties, 1 CA-CIV 5374 and 1 CA-CIV 6047 were consolidated by order of this court. We affirm the decisions of the trial court in both appeals.
Appellants contend that by enacting A.R.S. §§ 28-1747, -1748 and -1749 as part of the statutory scheme regulating aircraft operation, the legislature intended to protect the public from financially irresponsible renter-pilots analogous to the protection afforded the public from automobile renter-drivers pursuant to A.R.S. § 28-324 and the Motor Vehicle Responsibility Act, A.R.S. § 28-1101 et seq. No authority is cited to support this statutory construction and we have found none. 1
The thrust of A.R.S. § 28-1747 is to make a pilot responsible for his negligence while operating an aircraft. 2 A.R.S. § 28-1748 makes the law of torts applicable to collisions on land applicable to collisions of aircraft in the air and on land. 3 A.R.S. § 28-1749, which the legislature repealed by 1981 Ariz.Sess.Laws, Ch. 27, § 1, requires that commercial flight operators obtain certification from the Aeronautics Division of the Arizona Department of Transportation and maintain minimum liability insurance for death or bodily injury to passengers. The statute does not require that a commercial flight operator, such as Precision and June's Aviation, afford insurance coverage to a renter-pilot for his or her personal liability, but only that the commercial flight operator have minimum insurance against its own liability. 4 A.R.S. § 28-324 clearly requires that persons who are in the business of renting automobiles to others must maintain insurance coverage for the liability of such renter-drivers. 5 Although appellant urges us to make the provisions of A.R.S. § 28-324 applicable to renter-pilots, the statute is expressly limited to motor vehicle owners engaged in the rental of motor vehicles. By its own terms, it does not apply to aircraft. 6 It is the primary duty of the court to attempt to ascertain the true intent of the legislature at the time it enacted the statute. Bushnell v. Superior Court, 102 Ariz. 309, 428 P.2d 987 (1967). Where the language of a statute is plain and unambiguous and conveys a clear and definite meaning there is no occasion to interpret the statute and courts must follow the meaning of the statute as written. Ross v. Industrial Commission, 112 Ariz. 253, 540 P.2d 1234 (1975); City of Show Low v. Owens, 127 Ariz. 266, 619 P.2d 1043 (App.1980). The language of A.R.S. § 28-324 is clear and this court will not go outside the language to make it applicable by analogy to renters of aircraft.
A policy argument similar to that raised by appellant was considered by the California Supreme Court in National Insurance Underwriters v. Carter, 17 Cal.3d 380, 131 Cal.Rptr. 42, 551 P.2d 362 (1976). The aviation policy in question there excluded coverage for accidents occurring while the aircraft was piloted by an unqualified pilot as defined by the policy declarations. The defendants in Carter contended that the public policy set forth in the omnibus clause of the California Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Act should be read into the Uniform Aircraft Financial Responsibility Act then in effect in California. The California court refused to transfer the public policy objectives set forth in the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Act by analogy stating:
Unlike the statutory scheme considered by us in Wildman, the Uniform Aircraft Financial Responsibility Act * * * contains no expression of a public policy mandating insurance coverage for accidents occurring while the aircraft is piloted by unspecified persons operating the plane with the owner's permission....
[No] public policy is disclosed requiring aircraft owners to provide coverage for all 'permissive users' who may operate the aircraft. Wildman and the cases following it speak in the context of a statutory scheme which expressly requires certain coverage to be included in every automobile insurance policy. In contrast, in the absence of any general declaration of public policy mandating coverage of 'permissive users' for aircraft, we discern no reason to interfere with the parties' full freedom to contract for coverage on any terms not specifically prohibited by statute.
17 Cal.3d at 387, 131 Cal.Rptr. at 47, 551 P.2d at 367.
Similarly, we find no declaration of public policy in Arizona's statute which mandates coverage of permissive users of aircraft. Therefore, an aircraft liability insurance contract may properly limit the scope of coverage to exclude renter-pilots. See Arceneaux v. State Farm Mutual Auto. Ins. Co., 113 Ariz. 216, 550 P.2d 87 (1976).
Appellants' second major contention is that the policy exclusionary clauses are ambiguous and contrary to the reasonable understanding of laymen who...
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