Traudt v. City of Chicago

This is a wrongful death action. On December 24, 1963, the decedent, Robert W. Traudt, was piloting his private airplane with the intention of landing at Meigs Field, a public airport located in Chicago on a man-made island or peninsula in Lake Michigan. The airplane “became mechanically inoperative,” and he made an emergency landing upon Lake Michigan adjacent to Meigs Field and was drowned.

Plaintiff, as administratrix of the decedent’s estate, and in a 3-count complaint, sued (1) the City of Chicago, as the owner of Meigs Field; (2) Butler Aviation Corporation, as the “licensee, tenant,…