Dallas Airmotive, Inc. v. FlightSafety Int'l, Inc.

Dallas Airmotive, Inc. v. FlightSafety Int'l, Inc.

Opinion

 [*698]  JAMES M. SMART, JR., Judge.

In June 2001, after taking off in Missouri, a Piper turboprop crashed in Tennessee, killing the pilot and his four passengers. The surviving family members of the decedents brought suit against Dallas Airmotive, Inc., an entity that provided maintenance for the aircraft, and FlightSafety International, Inc., an FAA-certified flight training school, that had provided training to the pilot in the operation of the turboprop by way of a simulator. Dallas Airmotive reached settlements with the claimants and pursued cross-claims for contribution against FlightSafety, alleging negligence and breach of warranty. FlightSafety moved for summary judgment on the cross-claims, arguing, inter alia, that the  [**2] cross-claim of Dallas Airmotive was premised on the theory of educational malpractice, which is a theory of liability not recognized in Missouri. After the court granted judgment in favor of FlightSafety, Dallas Airmotive appeals. We affirm.

Background

The aircraft pilot held an FAA commercial pilot certificate and FAA-certified flight instructor certificate. While he had extensive experience as a pilot, he had no experience in operating a turboprop aircraft prior to attending a course offered by FlightSafety nine days before the crash. FlightSafety is a certified commercial aviation training center. The training included a ground school and ten hours in a simulator designed to replicate the actual performance and handling of a turboprop aircraft.

The petition alleged that a component part on the left engine failed, causing the pilot to shut down the left engine, ultimately causing the pilot to lose control of the aircraft. It was further alleged that the arm extension for the propeller governor on the left engine broke, thereby preventing the pilot from being able to feather the propeller. "Feathering" means to turn the blade of the propeller approximately parallel with the line of flight,  [**3] thus equalizing the pressure on the face and back of the blade and stopping the propeller from turning or "windmilling." Feathering is necessary because when the propeller is not being driven by the engine during flight, it windmills and creates a tremendous drag on that non-operating engine. During the training, the FlightSafety instructor intentionally failed one of the two engines in the simulator during the takeoff phase in order to attempt to allow the pilot to experience the drag on an aircraft in flight with one engine shut down until the propeller feathers. A FlightSafety manager testified that when an engine is flamed out intentionally in the simulator, the simulator will not give the pilot the high-drag forces associated with an unfeathered propeller. In the simulator, the pilot experiences unrealistically low feedback as to the drag forces involved and their effect on the airplane's handling. This was known to FlightSafety before the pilot underwent his training. The training program and simulator used by FlightSafety were both certified and approved by the FAA.

Dallas Airmotive was the sole contributor of funds to the settlement compensating the plaintiffs for their damages.  [**4] In the settlement agreements, Dallas Airmotive attempted to preserve a right of contribution against FlightSafety. ¹ Thereafter, Dallas Airmotive filed cross-claims against FlightSafety for contribution, incorporating  [*699]  by reference the plaintiff surviving family members' claims for negligence and breach of warranty. The trial court granted FlightSafety's motion for summary judgment on the negligence and breach of warranty claims. Dallas Airmotive now appeals.

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