State, Department of Transportation & Public Facilities v. Miller

145 P.3d 521, 2006 Alas. LEXIS 153, 2006 WL 2847854
CourtAlaska Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 6, 2006
DocketS-11946
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 145 P.3d 521 (State, Department of Transportation & Public Facilities v. Miller) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Alaska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State, Department of Transportation & Public Facilities v. Miller, 145 P.3d 521, 2006 Alas. LEXIS 153, 2006 WL 2847854 (Ala. 2006).

Opinion

OPINION

FABE, Justice.

I. INTRODUCTION

In January 2001 Lance Miller was injured in a plane crash while attempting to land at an unattended airport in Kipnuk. He brought an action against the State of Alaska, alleging that its failure to warn him that neither of the airport's windsocks was functioning constituted negligence and seeking damages on behalf of himself, his wife, and his three children for his injuries, lost earning capacity, and loss of consortium. A jury awarded Miller $1,256,000 and awarded his wife $20,000. The State appeals this judgment on four grounds. First, it claims that the superior court erred in denying the State a continuance when information potentially affecting Miller's credibility and the measure of damages came to light two and a half months before trial. Second, it alleges that the court erred in its jury instructions on negligence. Third, the State claims that the court erred in permitting the jury to consider Miller's lost earning capacity. Finally, the State argues that the superior court erred by failing to grant the motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV). Because we conclude that the superior court did not err in its rulings on these issues, we affirm the judgment.

II. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

A. Kipnuk Airport

The accident at issue here occurred at a State-owned airport in the Native Village of Kippuk. The airport is open to the public, including student pilots, and when it was built in 1981, the State installed a windsock at each end of the 2,160-foot-long runway. 1 The State aviation director testified that it was "important" to have windsocks at cach end because "you can easily have a different wind condition 2,000 feet away ... [and][tlhe windsock will indicate what the wind direction and ... velocity is only in the proximity right adjacent to the windsock. Anything that's hundreds of feet away ... could be different."

The pole supporting the south windsock was broken in a snowmobile accident "a few years" before the 2004 trial in this case. The State issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) in November 2000, stating that the south windsock was "damaged [and] not functioning properly," but not providing any further details. By 2001 the sock was still "stuck in the mud[,] ... torn and in disrepair."

Although the north windsock had not fallen over, rust at the base of the pole caused it to lean to one side. In addition, the bearings that allowed the north sock to rotate (indicating the direction of the wind) were worn out, and part of the sock itself was missing. Paul Kiunya, an Alaska Department of Transpor *524 tation and Public Facilities (DOTPEF) worker in Kipnuk, testified that he used wooden boards to prop the sock up but that the boards would: rot quickly. He maintained that he "always reported] everything" he knew about the sock's condition to his superiors. According to a Kipnuk resident who could see the sock from his home, the sock did not accurately indicate the direction of the wind. The State's NOTAM did not mention the north windsock.

B. The Accident

On January 23, 2001, Miller flew his Cessna 172 from Bethel to Kipnuk to perform maintenance work for his employer, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). His only passenger, Stan Hoffman, was a coworker. The trip had been delayed for at least two days due to a snowstorm at Kipnuk. Although Miller had flown to this airport several times before, he had just recently received his pilot's license, and was prepared to turn back if the wind was powerful enough to make landing dangerous. Relying on the north windsock, which was "just limp{,] not indicating a very strong wind," he decided to land.

Miller felt a strong crosswind as he was landing, but corrected for it by "crabbing" the plane to keep the wings level. Although the plane touched down where he intended, the wind blew it to the left as soon as it made contact with the runway. Miller was "shocked at the strength of the wind that was pushing [the plane} off" the runway, and attempted to compensate for it. When this attempt failed, Miller decided to abort the landing, and brought the plane to full throttle to take off again. But the plane continued to veer to the left and, when it rolled off the runway, it flipped over.

Miller's shoulder harness was still buckled, suspending him in an upside-down seated position. He had to use both hands to unbuckle it, and when he did so, he landed on his head and "wrenched" his neck. After opening the door and crawling out, he helped his uninjured passenger extricate himself, He then walked over to the north windsock:

I ... look[ed] at that windsock and I was dismayed at [its] condition.... I mean ... that pole that was being bent. That's what I[saw]. I walked over ... and the windsock [was] sitting there froze[n] up.... I mean, I was just shocked at the condition.

Miller took a commercial flight back to Be-thel and immediately went to the emergency room.

C. Miller's Injuries

At the emergency room, Miller "complain[ed] of neck pain, some light-headedness and [a] headache with a little bit of nausea." The doctor diagnosed cervical neck strain, lower back strain, and a concussion. Six days later, Miller saw Dr. Shannon Radke, a physician who had treated him several times before the accident. 2 Radke testified that Miller complained of worsening pain in his neck and lower back and that she prescribed pain medication.

Although Miller returned to work in March 2001, performing "light dutlies]" that did not involve flying or lifting, he continued to experience back pain. His economic expert, Francis Gallela, testified that Miller was kept on the payroll without being given significant duties: "He got transferred to Anchorage, they put him at a job, he had nothing to do here. He would sit [at] his desk with nothing to do." According to Gallela, "that wore pretty heavily on him ... [and it became clear to [Miller] that [the] FAA did not want him there since he couldn't do his job." A *525 December 2002 medical evaluation, which measured his ability to engage in "physical activities [such as] ... lifting, carrying, walking, standing [and] different activities involving reaching," found that Miller did not qualify for a maintenance mechanic position with the FAA. At that time, Miller was still taking pain medication.

In January 2008 he saw Dr. Larry Levine, a physical rehabilitation specialist, Dr. Levine performed several procedures, including a surgical procedure called provocative discography, 3 to identify the source of Miller's back pain, and diagnosed him with a spinal dise berniation. He testified that Miller might need "further intervention" in the future, including a possible dise replacement. Although Dr. Levine imposed restrictions on Miller's physical activities at work, he maintained that, by September 2008, Miller was capable of working in "either sedentary or light positions."

In May 2004 Miller testified that his back "hurt[ ] all the time, and [that] at times, it feels like [a] knife is getting twisted" in his back.

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145 P.3d 521, 2006 Alas. LEXIS 153, 2006 WL 2847854, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-department-of-transportation-public-facilities-v-miller-alaska-2006.