Cappello v. Duncan Aircraft Sales of Florida, Inc.

MERRITT, Chief Judge.

This diversity case for wrongful death arises from an airplane crash. The parties agreed that the substantive questions in the case are governed by Tennessee law.

At 1:42 in the early morning of March 16, 1991, in fair weather, the phot of a small “Hawker” jet chartered from the defendant flew into the side of a 3,500 mountain two minutes after taking off from a closed airport in San Diego. All nine people on board were killed. The pilot, Donald Holmes, had chosen to take off at night in a mountainous area under the visual flight rules (“VFR”) of the Federal Aviation…