Southern California Olive Farm sues public and private entities over use of its airspace

January 31, 2011 at 2:24 pm | Posted in Aviation Law Current Event | Leave a comment

by Sara M. Langston with the blog faculty

Source: mydesert.com

Through a lawsuit filed in March 2009 against local balloon companies, individual balloonists, and a pest control flight operator, the farm’s owner, JCM Farming Inc., has sued virtually all low-flying air traffic out of the sky.

15 defendants were named in JCM’s lawsuit in Riverside Superior Court. Thirteen have either gone out of business, had default judgments entered against them, or agreed to JCM’s demands that they stop flying in the area. Only Magical Adventure and Palm Desert balloonists Cynthia and Steven Wilkinson and their Fantasy Balloon Flights remain as defendants.

In the Complaint JCM also filed suit against the USDA, FAA, California Department of Food and Agriculture on 5 October 2010 on grounds of: inverse condemnation, civil rights violations and requesting injunctive relief, declaratory relief. [Full story].