In Ondrejko v. Atlantic Airways, et al., the alleged owner of a single-engine airplane leased to Atlantic Airways claimed that 10 pilots, student pilots and flight instructors had damaged his airplane's engine by operating outside of the approved parameters in the flight manual. One of those 10 was a Pennsylvania resident, and he was charged with deviating from the manual solely on one flight from North Carolina to Pennsylvania. Schnader represented the Pennsylvania pilot and moved to dismiss the Complaint on the basis that the claims against the pilot did not bear a sufficient relationship to Virginia to support a finding of specific personal jurisdiction because only 20% of the route of flight was over Virginia, and the points of departure and destination were outside Virginia.
At the hearing on the motion, plaintiff's counsel represented that downloaded data from the airplane showed that the alleged breach of operating limitations occurred in the airspace over Virginia. Schnader responded that, even if that were the case, the connection to Virginia would be insufficient to exercise jurisdiction because "[a] defendant's actions that are directed at the forum state in only 'a random, fortuitous, or attenuated way' are insufficient to support jurisdiction." Moreover, Schnader argued that the reason that nonresidents driving on a state's highways are subject to that state's jurisdiction is that they are within the regulatory jurisdiction of that state. That is not the case with the airways, Schnader argued, where they are distinctly under the sovereignty of the federal government, and state and local regulation is preempted by federal law.
The court agreed with Schnader's position, ruling that our client's connection with Virginia was too attenuated to allow the exercise of jurisdiction. Our motion was sustained and the client was dismissed from the case. Ondrejko v. Atlantic Airways, et al., No. CL-2015-96289 (Cir. Ct. Loudoun Cty. Mar. 4, 2016) (Sincavage, J.).
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