New York Court Holds That Federal Standards Of Care Preempt State-Law Standards Governing Hiring, Training, And Retention Of Pilots

A New York state trial court recently added another voice to the chorus of cases finding that federal law preempts state-law standards of care in the field of aviation safety. In In re: Air Crash Near Clarence Center, New York, __ N.Y.S.2d __, 2012 WL 4324940 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2012), decided on September 21, 2012, the Erie County court held that federal standards of care applied to the plaintiffs' claims of negligent pilot hiring, training, and retention.

The case arises out of the February 12, 2009 crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407. The plaintiffs alleged that, in addition to the pilot's negligence in operating the airplane, defendants Colgan Air, Inc., and Pinnacle Airlines Corp. negligently hired, trained, and retained the pilot, who allegedly had a history of failed flight tests and unsafe flying tendencies.

Colgan and Pinnacle moved for an order stating that federal standards of care governed the plaintiffs' claims. In response, the plaintiffs first argued that the savings clause in the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 ("FAAct") preserves both state remedies and state standards of care. They also argued that the FAAct empowers the Federal Aviation Administration ("FAA") to prescribe "minimum safety standards" for commercial airline operators, which indicates Congress's intent merely to create a floor and to leave room for the application of state tort law. Furthermore, the plaintiffs argued that state standards do not conflict with federal law with respect to their claims of negligent hiring, training, and retention. Finally, the plaintiffs argued that, if federal regulations preempt an ordinary negligence standard of care, their claims effectively would be barred because they would be restricted to examining whether the pilot took and passed various federally required flight tests.

Rejecting these arguments, the court ordered that federal standards of care governed the plaintiffs' claims. The court agreed with the "litany of Federal cases"1 holding that the FAAct and the Federal Aviation Regulations ("FARs") "'thoroughly occupy' the field of aviation safety by establishing 'complete and thorough safety standards for interstate and international air transportation that are not subject to supplementation by, or variation among, jurisdictions.'" The court then concluded that preemption applied because the plaintiffs' allegations "fall squarely within the broad field of air safety." Furthermore, "[w]ith respect to pilot training...