Decision
Imperial v. Heald Lumber Company
G.R. No. L-14090 · 1961-09-30 · CONCEPCION, J. · LawPhil
CONCEPCION PELLOSA VDA. DE IMPERIAL, in her own behalf and as Guardian Ad Litem of her minor child, REX IMPERIAL, JR., plaintiffs-appellants, vs. HEALD LUMBER COMPANY, defendant-appellee. G.R. No. L-14089 September 30, 1961 LOURDES FERRER VDA. DE HERNANDEZ, in her own behalf and as Guardian Ad…
CONCEPCION, J.:
Appeal from a decision of the Court of First Instance of Baguio dismissing the complaints in the above entitled three (3) cases, with costs against the plaintiffs. On June 4, 1954, at about 6:50 a.m., a helicopter (PIC361) of the Philippine Air Lines, Inc. (PAL), which had been chartered by the Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co., took off from Nichols Fields, in Makati, Rizal, headed for Mankayan, Mt. Province, via Rosales, Pangasinan.
On board the helicopter were Capt. Gabriel Hernandez and Lt. Rex Imperial.
The helicopter reached Rosales at 8:22 a.m., and, fifty-three (53) minutes later, or at 9:15 a.m., it undertook the last leg of its flight to Mankayan. However, the helicopter did not reach this place for it crashed on the way. A search party - composed of, among others, Capts.
Willis Rohlings and Jaime Manzano, both of the PAL - organized to track down the missing helicopter, found it in a ravine located in the barrio of Ampusungan, Benguet, Mt. Province within the lumber concession of defendant-appellee, Heald Lumber Co. which is several kilometers before reaching Mankayan. The helicopter was a total wreck and both Capt.
Hernandez and Lt. Imperial were dead. The body of the former was strapped to his seat, but that of the latter was several feet away from the wreckage.
At the time of the flight, Capt. Hernandez was a duly licensed helicopter pilot, whereas Lt. Imperial, although a licensed plane pilot, was then under training as helicopter pilot.
Owing to this accident, three (3) actions were instituted in the court aforementioned, against said defendant, namely: (1) case No. 580 (G.R. No. L-14112), filed by PAL on March 2, 1956; (2) case No. 591 (G.R. No. L-14088), filed by Concepcion Pellosa de Imperial, widow of the deceased Lt. Imperial, on April 13, 1956; and 3) case No. 592 (G.R. No. L-14089), filed by Lourdes Ferrer de Hernandez, widow of Capt. Hernandez, on the date last mentioned.
In the first case, the PAL sought to recover the following: Value of the helicopter P80,000.00 Compensation for the death of Capt. Hernandez & Lt. Imperial at P20,000 each 40,000.00 Consequential damages due to the loss of the helicopter 53,400.00 Funeral expenses for Capt.
Hernandez and Lt. Imperial 2,542.00 Expenses incurred in the training of Capt. Hernandez in the U.S. and Lt.
Imperial for operation of helicopter 17,405.82 Moral damages resulting from harmful publicity of the crash 30,000.00 T O T A L