Offshore Aviation v. Transcon Lines, Inc.

831 F.2d 1013, 9 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 465, 24 Fed. R. Serv. 137, 1987 U.S. App. LEXIS 14913
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedNovember 10, 1987
Docket86-5529
StatusPublished
Cited by118 cases

This text of 831 F.2d 1013 (Offshore Aviation v. Transcon Lines, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Offshore Aviation v. Transcon Lines, Inc., 831 F.2d 1013, 9 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 465, 24 Fed. R. Serv. 137, 1987 U.S. App. LEXIS 14913 (11th Cir. 1987).

Opinions

PER CURIAM:

BACKGROUND

Offshore Aviation, Inc., inspected used airplane parts owned by Singapore Airlines during a visit to the airline’s Singapore headquarters. Back in the United States, Offshore purchased the parts, and Singapore Airlines subsequently sent them via its own carrier to California, where they were picked up by carrier Transcon Lines, Inc., for carriage to Florida. Midway during the trip, the truck containing the six cartons destined for Offshore ended up in an accident and in flames. The used airplane parts were substantially destroyed. Transcon alleges not to have known the contents of the cartons until the remains were inspected after the accident. Offshore, claiming that the cartons contained the parts selected for purchase in Singapore and citing resale prices already set up with subsequent buyers, requested full resale value from Transcon for the damaged goods. The district court granted summary judgment, without explanation, in favor of Offshore and awarded the full amount of damages requested. Transcon appeals that summary judgment.

DISCUSSION

This appeal is from a summary judgment granting shipper Offshore Aviation the full market value of claimed damages for goods entrusted to carrier Transcon. It is not disputed that the airplane parts in six cartons were destroyed by fire from an accident en route. Offshore’s claim to damages and the specific amount of damages are in dispute.

Three elements are necessary to show a prima facie case of carrier liability for damaged goods. The shipper must by a preponderance of the evidence evince proof that the goods 1) were delivered to the carrier in good condition, 2) arrived in damaged condition, and 3) resulted in the specified amount of damage. Missouri Pacific Railroad Co. v. Elmore & Stahl, 377 U.S. 134, 138, 84 S.Ct. 1142, 1144, 12 L.Ed.2d 194 (1964). The trial court, seeing no genuine issues of fact, held that Offshore satisfied a prima facie showing with the evidence adduced. We, reviewing the evidence in a light most favorable to Trans-con, Tackitt v. Prudential Ins., 758 F.2d 1572 (11th Cir.1985), must disagree. Summary judgment is not warranted in this case because two material factual questions remain in dispute.

A. Claim to Damages

First, Offshore has failed to meet the requisite test showing that the plane parts were delivered to Transcon in good condition. The proof stumbles on a conclusive showing of exactly what goods were handed to Transcon. As a matter of law, the carrier has the initial burden of informing itself of the condition of the goods received. Missouri Pacific Railroad, 377 U.S. at 144, 84 S.Ct. at 1148. But if the shipment is not open and visible, that burden shifts to the shipper, who must substantiate the nature of the contents. Highland Ins. v. Strachan Shipping Co., 772 F.2d 1520 (11th Cir.1985) Thus, the first unresolved genuine and material factual issue is whether the cartons accepted by Transcon for shipping were open and visible. See, e.g., Blue Bird Products Co. v. Boston & Maine Corp., 474 F.2d 102 (3d Cir.1973) (remand for insufficient evidence).

Even assuming that Transcon has the burden of showing that the cartons were sealed, Blue Bird Products Co., 474 F.2d at 107, it is inappropriate for the district court judge to rely on the bill of [1015]*1015lading, claiming the “property described in apparent good order.” Unless the cartons were open and the goods visible, the contents cannot have been in any apparent state to the carrier. The district court made no specific finding on this point, as required by Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a).

Recognizing that the cartons may have been sealed, this Court is faced with a second unresolved material factual issue: the contents of the six cartons. Offshore has presented a series of documents tracing the goods from their Singapore beginnings to their arrival in California, at which point Transcon received them for shipping. These documents attest to the serviceability of the parts being shipped, and show that the weight of the cartons in Singapore corresponded to their weight in California. However, documents cannot suffice for prima facie proof of contents in sealed containers. Highlands Ins., 772 F.2d at 1521; Ed Miniat, Inc. v. Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Co., 587 F.2d 1277, 1280 & n. 2 (D.C.Cir.1978). For sealed containers, documentary evidence needs to be supplemented by direct evidence, “such as the testimony of an eyewitness to the loading of the container,” Highlands Ins., 772 F.2d at 1521, none of which is forthcoming in this case. A prima facie case should not rest on mere possibility. Ed Miniat, Inc., 587 F.2d at 1281 n. 22.

Part of the material and genuine factual dispute in this case rests on the admissibility of a letter by a Singapore Airlines employee. In contrast to all the other evidence produced by Offshore, this letter qualifies the equipment sent to Offshore as being “in an unserviceable state.” Offshore for the first time on appeal claims that the letter is inadmissible hearsay. Despite possible flaws in the evidence, two factors require that the letter be included in an assessment of the facts.

First, the Supreme Court has recently expounded on when summary judgments should be granted. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); see also Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). In Celotex, the court emphasized the importance of granting summary judgment where appropriate as “an integral part of the Federal Rules as a whole, which are designed ‘to secure the just, speedy and inexpensive determination of every action.’ ” 106 S.Ct. at 2555 (quoting Fed.R. Civ.P. 1). However, in clarifying that the movant need not show evidence to negate an opposing party’s claim, the Supreme Court did not increase the burden on the nonmoving party to contest a motion for summary judgment. Indeed, the court emphasized the full consideration of all evidence presented by nonmovants.

We do not mean that the nonmoving party must produce evidence in a form that would be admissible at trial in order to avoid summary judgment____ Rule 56(e) permits a proper summary judgment motion to be opposed by any of the kinds of evidentiary materials listed in 56(c)....

106 S.Ct. at 2553-54. Under Fed.R.Civ.P. 56

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831 F.2d 1013, 9 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 465, 24 Fed. R. Serv. 137, 1987 U.S. App. LEXIS 14913, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/offshore-aviation-v-transcon-lines-inc-ca11-1987.