Zantop International Airlines, Inc. v. Eastern Airlines

These appeals involve a fatal airplane crash. In 1977, Zantop International Air lines, Inc., purchased four used airplanes from Eastern Airlines. On May 30, 1984, one of the planes, a Lockheed Electra cargo plane, broke up in midair over Pennsylvania. Three Zantop employees (Charles R. Embry, John J. Bolton, and John B. Figarra) and one passenger (Bruce G. Whitesell) were killed.

Zantop argued that the removal of a "verticality monitor” was the likely cause of the accident. The monitor was removed by Eastern (when it owned the plane) pursuant to a service bulletin from Bendix/Allied…