Glorvigen v. Cirrus Design Corp.

Glorvigen v. Cirrus Design Corp.

Opinion

 [*543]  LARKIN, Judge

This appeal rises from the district court's entry of judgment against appellants, following a jury trial, on negligence claims stemming from an airplane crash and the resulting death of the plane's pilot and passenger. Appellants challenge the district court's denial of their motions for judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) and for a new trial. Appellants primarily argue that they are entitled to JMOL because they did not owe decedents a duty of care. We conclude that appellants are not liable, as a matter of law, under respondents' product-liability  [**3] theory. We further conclude that respondents' claims are noncognizable because they sound in educational malpractice. We therefore reverse and remand for entry of judgment in appellants' favor, without addressing appellants' other assignments of error.

FACTS

Gary Prokop and James Kosak were killed during an airplane crash near Hill City, Minnesota, in January 2003. Prokop was piloting the aircraft, a recently purchased Cirrus SR22. Kosak was Prokop's sole passenger. Prokop received his pilot's license in 2001 and had logged approximately 225 hours of flight time, mostly in his Cessna 172. Prokop had a visual-flight-rules (VFR) ¹ certification. Under this certification, Prokop was prohibited from flying into clouds or other inclement conditions that might require reliance on instrument flying. Although Prokop had not yet obtained his instrument rating, which would have permitted him to fly in instrument meteorological conditions  [*544]  (IMC) ² Prokop was in the process of training for instrument certification. Prokop had logged more than 60 hours of instrument-flight instruction and had fulfilled all of the requirements necessary to take his instrument-flight examination.

Prokop purchased his Cirrus SR22 airplane in 2002 from appellant Cirrus Design Corporation. Cirrus provided Prokop with a Pilot's Operating Handbook and FAA [(Federal Aviation Administration)] Approved Airplane Flight Manual for the Cirrus Design SR22. The cover states:

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