Lowry v. Cochran

A city was immune from liability under the Recreational Property Act for the plaintiff's injuries during a skydiving demonstration.

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Laura Candice Lowry was injured when she was struck by a skydiver whose parachute collapsed. The incident occurred during a festival that included a skydiving demonstration and while Lowry was standing just outside of the landing area for the skydivers. Lowry sued numerous parties, including i the City of Euharlee, which owned the park where the festival took place, ii Norman Johnson, who is a skydiver that inspected and approved the landing site for the demonstration, and iii Ben Cochran, who is the skydiver that collided with Lowry as he approached the landing area, and who participated in at least one discussion of security measures with Johnson and festival organizers. Cochran, who was also injured in the incident, countersued against Lowry, claiming that she was standing too close to the landing area. The City, Johnson, and Cochran filed motions for summary judgment in Lowry’s suit against them; and Lowry filed a motion for summary judgment in Cochran’s counterclaim. The trial court denied each of the motions, finding i that skydiving was an inherently dangerous activity that imposed strict liability upon the City, Johnson, and Cochran regardless of whether Lowry was adequately warned that she was standing too close to the landing area and ii that questions of material fact remained as to whether Lowry was negligent in standing where she did during the demonstration.

The trial court entered certificates of immediate review as to each of its orders, and we granted the applications for interlocutory review filed by Lowry, Johnson, the City, and Cochran. For the reasons provided below, we affirm the trial court’s judgments denying the motions for summary judgment filed by Johnson and Cochran, and we reverse the trial court’s judgments denying the motions for summary judgment filed by Lowry and the City.

Lowry v. Cochran

A city was immune from liability under the Recreational Property Act for the plaintiff's injuries during a skydiving demonstration.

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