Dyer v. United States

GOODWIN, Circuit Judge:

Appellants sued under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346(b), 2671-2680 (1982), for a death resulting when the small airplane in which the decedent was a passenger crashed while landing shortly after a large Coast Guard helicopter landed on the same runway. In a nonjury trial, the district court found that the crash was the result of wake turbulence from the helicopter’s landing minutes before, and that the cause of the accident was the negligence of the aircraft pilot when he misjudged the precautions necessary to avoid the turbulence. The court found no…