Executive Jet Aviation, Inc. v. City of Cleveland

This case presents a single important question:

Do the federal courts have maritime jurisdiction over airplane crashes in navigable waters where the cause of the crash is alleged to be tortious conduct which occurred on land?

The Third Circuit has previously answered this question affirmatively in the context of death cases arising out of the crash of a passenger aircraft into Boston Harbor shortly after takeoff where the causes of the crash were alleged, as here, to have been land-based. Weinstein v. Eastern Air Lines, Inc., 316 F. 2d 758 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 375 U.S. 940, 84 S.Ct. 343, 11…