609 F.2d 824 - Ledoux v. Petroleum Helicopters, Inc. — 609 F.2d 824

How this case has been cited

Cited by 32 later decisions — most recently September 2016 · most notably Smith v. Pan Air Corp. (1982), Tallentire v. Offshore Logistics, Inc. (1985)

15 federal appellate · 5 district ·

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

¶1James L. Wheeler, New Orleans, La., for plaintiffs-appellants.

¶2McGlinehey, Stafford, Mintz & Hoffman, Dermot S. McGlinehey, William V. Dalferes, Jr., New Orleans, La., for defendants-appel-lees Petroleum Helicopters & Aetna Cas. & Surety Co.

¶3Before CHARLES CLARK, RONEY and HENDERSON, Circuit Judges.

¶4PER CURIAM:

¶5The survivors of the pilot of a helicopter, killed in a crash at sea, suffered dismissal of their action for damages on the grounds that the Workmen’s Compensation laws of Louisiana provided the exclusive remedy. Because of intervening decisions, we reverse.

¶6Executive Jet Aviation, Inc., v. City of Cleveland, Ohio, 409 U.S. 249, 93 S.Ct. 493, 34 L.Ed.2d 454 (1972), established that the crash of a land-based aircraft on a flight between points within the continental United States could not invoke admiralty jurisdiction merely because the plane crashed in navigable waters. The Court held that admiralty jurisdiction required not only maritime situs, but also maritime status, i. e., a significant relationship to traditional maritime activity.

¶7The crash of the deceased’s helicopter, while it was being used in place of a vessel to ferry personnel and supplies to and from offshore drilling structures, bears the type of significant relationship to traditional maritime activity which is necessary to invoke admiralty jurisdiction. Higginbotham v. Mobil Oil Co., 357 F.Supp. 1164, 1167 (W.D.La.1973), aff’d in part, rev’d in part, 545 F.2d 422, 424 n.l, rev’d on other grounds, 436 U.S. 618, 98 S.Ct. 2010, 56 L.Ed.2d 581 (1978). (See 98 S.Ct. 2012, n.2).

¶8Because maritime jurisdiction exists, the exclusive remedy provision of the Louisiana Workmen’s Compensation statutes cannot control the rights of the parties. Thibo-daux v. Atlantic Richfield Co., 580 F.2d 841 (5th Cir. 1978). The judgment appealed from is vacated and the case is remanded for further consideration of the cause of action pled.

¶9VACATED and REMANDED.