McComb v. Tiburon Aircraft, Inc.

281 S.E.2d 482, 276 S.C. 683, 1981 S.C. LEXIS 461

Opinions

Lewis, Chief Justice:

The defendant, Tiburón Aircraft, Inc., a nonresident of South Carolina, appeals from an order of the trial court holding that Tiburón was subject to personal jurisdiction in this State. We affirm.

The marijuana-laden aircraft of Tiburón crashed in McCormick County, South Carolina, while being operated by pilots previously employed to deliver the plane from Colorado to Costa Rica. The lower court held that there was sufficient evidence to infer the plane was operated by Ti-burón’s agents at the time of the crash, therefore, Tiburón was subject to personal jurisdiction under Section 36-2-803(1) (c), South Carolina Code of Laws (1976), which authorizes the exercise of personal jurisdiction over a person as to a cause of action arising from the person’s “commission of a tortious act in whole or in part in the State.” Tiburón contends that the pilots, both killed in the crash, had stolen the plane and the flight over South Carolina was unauthorized.

The undisputed facts unexplained by competent evidence, that Tiburón employed the pilots to fly the plane from Colorado to Costa Rica and that these pilots were operating Ti-buron’s plane when it crashed in this State, made out a prima jade case upon which to sustain a finding that the plane was being operated by agents of Tiburón. The lower court properly refused to take at face value the hearsay affidavit, filed by 'Tiburón, that the pilots had stolen the plane; and properly weighed the veracity of the affidavit in the light of possible criminal charges that might follow a contrary admission.

The action of the lower court is fully sustained by the case of Moorer v. Underwood, 194 S. C. 73, 9 S. E. (2d) 29.

Judgment affirmed.

Littlejohn, Gregory and Harwell, JJ., concur. Ness, J., dissents.