This suit was brought by the estate of an individual who was killed when a small plane in which he was riding crashed. The Florida Supreme Court ruled that the suit could be filed against the lessor of the plane, despite a federal law, 49 U.S.C. Sec. 44112, that preempts state tort suits against the lessor or owner of an aircraft that is not in their actual possession or control.
The NAM joined with other business organizations to urge the U.S. Supreme Court to review this holding. Our brief challenged the Florida court's decision to absurdly narrow the broad preemption afforded by the federal statute, and we pointed out that its ruling will encourage airplane accident litigation in Florida or any other jurisdiction that follows that state's lead. In another case with similar facts, a federal appeals court reached the opposite conclusion. The Florida decision creates uncertainty in an industry that depends on lessors and secured parties who are not in possession or control of an aircraft. Preemption is required so that such parties are not subject to conflicting state-law based liability claims. The Florida decision would preempt only suits for injuries caused to people that are underneath falling aircraft, a result that would make the preemption provision extremely narrow. Such a result will lead to forum-shopping by plaintiffs, increased transactional costs of litigation throughout the industry, increased insurance costs and increased risk and uncertainty.
On Feb. 21, 2012, the Court declined to review Florida court's decision.