United States Ninth Circuit

Affirmed the dismissal of a Federal Tort Claims Act lawsuit filed by a deceased pilot's estate after his helicopter struck an unmarked cable suspended forty feet above a river and crashed. In its suit, the estate claimed that the U.S. Geological Survey was negligent for failing to mark the cable, which had been installed as part of a system to collect streamflow measurements. In affirming the dismissal, the Ninth Circuit reasoned that the government's decision not to mark the cable fell squarely within the discretionary function exception, so the FTCA claim was properly dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

Appellate Information

• Published 2018/07/13

Judges

• McKeown

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel