See Bonner v. United States Fire Ins. Co., 494 So.2d 1311, 1315 (La.Ct.App. 1986), writ denied, 497 So.2d 1017 (La. 1986); McCord v. Dixie Aviation Corp., 450 F.2d 1129, 1130 (10th Cir. 1971); Rosdail v. Western Aviation, Inc., 297 F. Supp. 681, Yelinek v. Worley, 284 F. Supp. 679 (E.D.Va. 1968); McDaniel v. Ritter, 556 So.2d 303, 312 (Miss. 1989); Nachsin v. De La Bretonne, 17 Cal.App.3d 637, 95 Cal.Rptr. 227, 228 (1971); see also Ferrari, 268 N.E.2d at 561 (erroneous interpretation of federal statute by Hoebee, Hays and Lamasters). Most notably, the Fifth Circuit refused to apply its own 1955 ruling in Hays, upon which these plaintiffs rely, to the similar federal statute. Rogers v. Ray Gardner Flying Serv., Inc., 435 F.2d 1389, 1391-95 (5th Cir. 1970), cert. denied, 401 U.S. 1010, 91 S.Ct. 1255, 28 L.Ed.2d 546 (1971); see also McDaniel, 556 So.2d at 312, n. 7 (dicta by the Mississippi Supreme Court noting recent criticism of Fifth Circuit's construction of its own state statute in Hays).
Here again the Minnesota Supreme Court refused to hold that the state's enactment of Section 1301(26) of the Act provided a basis for imposing vicarious liability on an owner-lessor of an aircraft. In Nachsin v. De La Bretonne, 17 Cal.App.3d 637, 95 Cal.Rptr. 227 (1971), the Court again denied a plaintiff who sued the nonnegligent owner of an aircraft any recovery premised on section 1301(26) of the Federal Aviation Act. The Court cites with approval the reasoning of the Rogers and Rosdail cases.
Recent readings of this federal statute (and its state statutory clones) have limited liability solely to the pilots of aircraft. Broadway v. Webb, 462 F. Supp. 429, 433 (W.D.N.C. 1977); McCord v. Dixie Aviation, 450 F.2d 1129, 1130 (10th Cir. 1971); Nachsin v. DeLaBretonne, 17 Cal.App.3d 637, 95 Cal.Rptr. 227, 228 (1971); Ferrari v. Byerly Aviation, Inc., 131 Ill. App.2d 747, 268 N.E.2d 558, 560-61 (1971); see also 2 S. Speiser C. Krause, Aviation Tort Law § 14:3 (1979 Supp. 1988); and L. Kreindler, Aviation Accident Law § 4.02 (1986). The provision relied upon by the plaintiffs for the proposition that federal law imposes vicarious liability upon the lessors, bailors and owners of aircraft is contained in the "definitions" section of the Act and reads as follows:
At common law the negligence of an airplane pilot alone, absent any independent negligence of the owner or any special relationship between owner and pilot, was not imputable to the owner. Nachsin v. De La Bretonne (1971), 17 Cal.App.3d 637, 95 Cal.Rptr. 227, 228. Under Section 1-102(11), plaintiff would have us hold the owner or lessor of an airplane absolutely liable for the negligence, if any, of the pilot of the plane. In Montana, the common law, so far as it is not repugnant to or inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States, or the Constitution or statutes of Montana, is the rule of decision.