No. 00-617
In the Supreme Court of the United States
INTERNATIONAL AIRCRAFT RECOVERY, L.L.C., PETITIONER
v.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
ON PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI
TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
BRIEF FOR THE UNITED STATES IN OPPOSITION
SETH P. WAXMAN
Solicitor General
Counsel of Record
DAVID W. OGDEN
Assistant Attorney General
ROBERT S. GREENSPAN
JEFFREY CLAIR
Attorneys
Department of Justice
Washington, D.C. 20530-0001
(202) 514-2217
QUESTIONS PRESENTED
1. Whether a salvor of a United States military aircraft may assert ownership
rights over the wreck when the government has not expressly abandoned it.
2. Whether a United States military aircraft lost at sea that has not been
abandoned may be salvaged without the consent of the government.
In the Supreme Court of the United States
No. 00-617
INTERNATIONAL AIRCRAFT RECOVERY, L.L.C., PETITIONER
v.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
ON PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI
TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
BRIEF FOR THE UNITED STATES IN OPPOSITION
OPINIONS BELOW
The opinion of the court of appeals (Pet. App. 1a-19a) is reported at 218
F.3d 1255. The opinion of the district court (Pet. App. 20a-43a) is reported
at 54 F. Supp. 2d 1172.
JURISDICTION
The judgment of the court of appeals was entered on July 17, 2000. The petition
for a writ of certiorari was filed on October 16, 2000 (a Monday). The jurisdiction
of this Court is invoked under 28 U.S.C. 1254(1).
STATEMENT
1. This case involves a private party's right to salvage a rare and historically
valuable United States naval aircraft that crashed approximately eight miles
off the coast of Florida in 1943. The aircraft is a United States Navy "Devastator"
TBD-1 torpedo bomber manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company and delivered
to the Navy in 1938. It was assigned to the aircraft carrier Yorktown and
flew combat missions in both the Battle of Midway and the Battle of the
Coral Sea. After its combat tour, the aircraft was reassigned to the Atlantic
Training Squadron at the Naval Air Station in Miami, Florida. It crashed
into the Atlantic Ocean on July 1, 1943, while on a torpedo attack instruction
flight. The pilot and his crew all escaped without injury. Pet. App. 22a-24a.
The government did not at that time know the specific location of the wreck
and did not attempt to find and salvage it. On September 8, 1943, the aircraft
was stricken from the inventory of active naval aircraft. Id. at 24a.
In 1990, a group of salvors searching for Spanish galleons located what
appears to be the aircraft wreck site. Pet. App. 25a. The original finders
offered to sell the wreck location for $25,000 to the government's National
Museum of Naval Aviation, which expressed interest in the aircraft but concluded
that it did not have a budget for the acquisition and refused the salvors'
offer. The finders then sold the wreck's location for $75,000 to Windward
Aviation, Inc., an Oklahoma Corporation controlled by Douglas Champlin,
a private collector of fighter aircraft. Ibid.
Champlin offered to enter into an agreement with the naval museum under
which he would raise or salvage the aircraft and turn it over to the museum
in exchange for other surplus aircraft under the museum's control. The government
again expressed its interest in the aircraft and entered into negotiations
with Champlin. No agreement was reached, however, principally because the
Navy believed the proposed terms of the in-kind trade were not advantageous,
N.R. 12,1 U.S. Mem. in Support of Motion to Intervene, Exh. 6 (Letter from
W.S. Dudley, Dir. of Naval History, to Douglas L. Champlin, President of
Historic Aircraft Recovery, Inc. (Jan. 24, 1992)), because it did not have
budget author-ity to make a cash offer of purchase and to undertake a conservation
program (Pet. App. 26a), and because it had reservations about the adequacy
of the salvor's ability to insure that the aircraft would not be damaged
by the salvage operation and subsequent exposure to the air, N.R. 12, U.S.
Mem. in Support of Mot. to Intervene, Exh. 8 (Letter from Bernard Murphy,
Federal Preservation Officer, to Milan Slahor, Attorney at Law (June 25,
1993) (Murphy-Slahor Letter)).
In 1993, the government stated in correspondence with Champlin's counsel
that: (1) the aircraft remained U.S. government property; (2) Champlin did
not have permission to salvage the wreck; (3) any intrusion on the wreck
could subject Champlin to a civil or criminal suit; and (4) recovery of
the aircraft in the absence of an appropriate plan for recovery and conservation
would harm the government's interests in preserving a fragile and historic
artifact. See N.R. 12, U.S. Mem. in Support of Mot. to Intervene, Exh. 8
(Murphy-Slahor Letter).
2. In August 1994, Champlin filed, as President of Windward Aviation, Inc.,
an in rem action intended to establish his exclusive salvage rights to the
aircraft. Pet. App. 27a. During the pendency of the in rem action, Champlin
conducted a salvage operation in December 1994, recovered a portion of the
aircraft's canopy, and brought the canopy within the territorial jurisdiction
of the court. Id. at 3a-4a.
In February 1995, government counsel learned of the in rem action and of
the salvage of the canopy, and thereafter again advised Champlin that the
government retained ownership of the aircraft and that he had no authority
or permission to salvage artifacts from the wreck site. See N.R. 19, Pl.'s
Response, Exh. C (Letter from Damon C. Miller, Trial Attorney, to David
Paul Horan, Attorney at Law (Feb. 9, 1995)). Government counsel asked Champlin
to turn over any salvaged artifacts to the naval museum and dismiss the
in rem complaint. Ibid. On March 2, 1995, Champlin voluntarily dismissed
the in rem action without prejudice. Pet. App. 27a. He then turned the canopy
over to the naval museum and began a new round of negotiations with the
government. No agreement was concluded, however.
3. On July 10, 1998, Champlin filed a second in rem action against the aircraft.
The complaint was filed by petitioner International Aircraft Recovery, LLC,
a Nevada corporation controlled by Champlin and the successor-in-interest
to the corporate plaintiff in the prior in rem action. It sought an injunction
barring all persons from interfering with petitioner's "exclusive salvage
rights on the aircraft" and either a "full and liberal salvage
award" or "title under the American Law of Finds." N.R. 1,
Compl. 4. The court issued a warrant of arrest of the aircraft and appointed
petitioner as the substitute custodian. Pet. App. 28a. In December 1998,
Champlin conducted a second salvage operation. He recovered the aircraft's
radio mast and filmed additional video tape of the wreckage. Id. at 28a-29a.
On December 30, 1998, the United States intervened in the in rem action
and moved to vacate the orders pertaining to the arrest of the aircraft.
The government also requested a preliminary injunction barring petitioner
from salvage operations and ordering petitioner to return any salvaged parts
to the United States. Pet. App. 29a.
At the preliminary injunction hearing, the government adduced testimony
from an expert in the deep water salvage of crashed aircraft. He opined
that petitioner's salvage plan was inadequate and would result in the destruction
of the aircraft. See June 4, 1999 Tr. 27-43. In particular, the government's
expert noted that petitioner had not accounted for the stresses that would
be placed on the salvage operation by the weight of the aircraft, the water
entrained within the aircraft fuselage, and dynamic changes in the load
borne by the proposed lift system. He explained that the "positive
buoyancy lift system" petitioner intended to employ is notoriously
difficult to control and, for that reason, rarely if ever used for deep
water salvage operations. Id. at 32-33. He reviewed the "cradle"
petitioner intended to use in lifting the aircraft and explained that the
design failed to account for the substantial possibility that the center
of gravity of the aircraft might shift during the operation-a contingency
that would twist the airframe against the lifting cables and "probably
cut the wings off of the airplane." Id. at 34-35. He concluded that
petitioner's plan had a "very very minimal, perhaps ten percent"
likelihood of successfully recovering the aircraft intact. Id. at 39. Petitioner
did not offer any direct expert testimony on the adequacy of its salvage
plan.
The district court granted judgment in favor of petitioner. The court first
concluded that it had subject matter jurisdiction. It reasoned that the
claims sounded in admiralty because they implicate questions concerning
the salvage of property from navigable water. Pet. App. 31a. It also reasoned
that, under California v. Deep Sea Research, Inc., 523 U.S. 491 (1998),
it could exercise in rem jurisdiction to adjudicate the government's interests
in property subject to salvage claims where the property is not in the government's
actual possession. Pet. App. 31a-32a.
On the merits, the court held that petitioner could go forward with a salvage
operation without regard to whether the government had abandoned the property
or granted petitioner permission to undertake a salvage operation. It reasoned
that issues of ownership and abandonment are secondary to whether the court
could protect petitioner's ongoing salvage rights, and that petitioner had
a right to continue salvage operations because the aircraft is in maritime
peril, because the government had no present means of rescuing the aircraft,
and because a "prudent man" would accept salvage services in such
circumstances. Pet. App. 38a-39a.
4. The court of appeals reversed. Pet. App. 1a-19a. The court first concluded
that the United States had not abandoned all ownership interests in the
aircraft, and that the aircraft therefore was not subject to the admiralty
law of finds. It explained that this Court and the lower federal courts
have consistently recognized that the federal government cannot abandon
property absent an affirmative act authorized by Congress and that the government
had not expressly relinquished its ownership interests. Id. at 7a-10a.
The court of appeals also rejected petitioner's assertion that California
v. Deep Sea Research, Inc., 523 U.S. 491 (1998), compels a different result
by requiring abandonment to be determined under common law standards. The
court explained that Deep Sea Research concerned property governed by the
Abandoned Shipwreck Act of 1987, 43 U.S.C. 2101 et seq., which did not apply
to federal aircraft wrecks that were not embedded in the submerged lands
of a State, and that none of the parties had argued that the Act applies
in this case. Pet. App. 11a. The court concluded that, under the standards
applicable to federal property, the government had not abandoned the aircraft
by federal statute or duly authorized administrative action, and thus remained
the aircraft's owner. Id. at 5a-12a.
The court of appeals also rejected petitioner's assertion that, regardless
of whether the owner retains an interest in property lost at sea, a salvor
has a right to continue salvage operations over the owner's express rejection
of salvage services whenever the property in question is in maritime peril.
The court explained that the law of salvage is intended to encourage rescue,
and that "when a ship is in distress and has been deserted by its crew,
anyone can attempt salvage without the prior assent of the ship's owner
or master." Pet App. 13a. It further explained, however, that a salvor's
right to render immediate assistance in emergent circumstances does not
extinguish an owner's right to reject salvage services in instances where
no other party's property interests are at stake, and where a timely and
effective rejection of assistance is communicated to the salvor. Id. at
13a-15a. The court noted that the authors of admiralty treatises agree that
owners can reject salvage assistance (id. at 16a & n.16), and that "[i]n
the context of salvage claims pertaining to historic wrecks, numerous courts
have held that title holders can prevent salvors from raising long submerged
vessels." Id. at 17a-18a.
The court therefore held that petitioner had no right to continue salvage
operations over the objections of the government. It concluded, however,
that petitioner may have a claim for monetary compensation for salvage services
that may have been rendered before the government made a timely and effective
rejection of salvage services. It accordingly remanded the case to the district
court for further consideration of a salvage award. Pet. App. 18a-19a.
ARGUMENT
The court of appeals' decision correctly applied well-established principles
of salvage law to petitioner's claims. The court's holding that the United
States has retained ownership interests in the subject aircraft is consistent
with decisions of this Court and other courts of appeals, all of which recognize
that the United States cannot be deemed to abandon property absent evidence
of an express, duly authorized action relinquishing the government's claims
of ownership. Moreover, its holding that a salvor cannot proceed with salvage
services over a timely objection from the owner is consistent with decisions
of this Court and other courts of appeals. Accordingly, further review is
not warranted.
1. The court of appeals' holding that sovereign property can only be abandoned
by an express, duly authorized action is consistent with the decisions of
this Court and supported by sound considerations of public policy.
a. Petitioner maintains that there is confusion among the courts of appeals
regarding the correct standards for determining abandonment of property
lost at sea, and that the express abandonment standard applied by the court
below should be rejected in favor of a uniform standard that would encourage
salvors to locate and raise lost property. Pet. 15-20.
Those contentions are misplaced. First, the court of appeals' holding on
the standards for finding abandonment of sovereign property is consistent
with, indeed compelled by, the decisions of this Court. Well settled doctrine
rooted in the Property Clause of the Constitution2 holds that the federal
government's interests in property may not be impliedly abandoned, but rather
can only be relinquished by an express, affirmative renunciation of property
rights that is duly authorized by Congress. United States v. California,
332 U.S. 19, 39-40 (1947); Royal Indemnity Co. v. United States, 313 U.S.
289 (1941). Accordingly, the case law makes clear that, absent an express
act of abandonment, the United States retains ownership of property lost
at sea, even after the passage of many years. See United States v. Steinmetz,
973 F.2d 212, 222-223 (3d Cir. 1992), cert. denied, 507 U.S. 984 (1993);
Hatteras, Inc. v. USS Hatteras, 1984 A.M.C. 1094 (S.D. Tex. 1981), aff'd,
698 F.2d 1215 (5th Cir.) (Table), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 815 (1983). The
decision below follows that well-established rule.
Second, although there may be some division among the courts of appeals
with respect to the appropriate common law standards for determining the
abandonment of private property in admiralty cases,3 we are aware of no
decision of this Court or any other court of appeals holding that the sovereign's
property may be deemed abandoned absent an express, duly authorized act
relinquishing the government's property interests. Indeed, the decision
below is completely in accord with a recent decision of the Fourth Circuit.
Sea Hunt, Inc. v. The Unidentified Shipwrecked Vessel or Vessels, 221 F.3d
634 (2000), petition for cert. pending, No. 00-652. The decision below thus
does not present an issue that has caused confusion in the lower courts
or a conflict in appellate authority.4
Finally, contrary to petitioner's contentions, the decision below correctly
held that the sovereign retains a right to reject salvage services absent
an express abandonment of the property in question. That decision is consistent
with sound considerations of public policy and does not present an issue
warranting further review by this Court. Insofar as the law of salvage should
be construed to afford would-be salvors an economic inducement to find and
rescue property lost at sea, those interests are not compromised by the
holding below. Indeed, the holding does not disturb the original finder's
sale of the wreck's location, and it permits the district court to consider
awarding compensation for salvage services that may have been rendered before
the government rejected salvage services. Pet. App. 18a-19a.
At the same time, the decision below protects vital governmental interests
in controlling the salvage of its property, particularly military property
that may contain the grave sites of personnel or information that implicates
national security concerns. The holding ensures that the government cannot
be compelled to accept salvage services from a salvor that, in the government's
judgment, lacks the resources and ability to safely raise and conserve fragile
historic artifacts. In addition, the holding ensures that the government
is not compelled by judicial order to pay for salvage operations that are
inconsistent with the government's budgetary priorities and discretionary
decisions as to how to allocate its finite preservation resources.
b. Petitioner also errs in asserting (see Pet. 9, 19) that the decision
below establishes new sovereign immunity principles that conflict with this
Court's decisions in Deep Sea Research, supra, and The Davis, 77 U.S. (10
Wall.) 15 (1869). Deep Sea Research holds that the Eleventh Amendment does
not bar a federal court exercising admiralty jurisdiction from adjudicating
claims against state property that is not within the State's actual possession.
523 U.S. at 507. The Davis similarly holds that in rem proceedings against
federal cargo rescued from a sinking, private vessel are not barred if the
court's process will not invade the actual possession of the United States.
Petitioner argues that the decision below runs afoul of those principles
because the court's adjudication of the sovereign's claim of ownership and
attendant right to reject salvage of property is "the functional equivalent
of granting the United States 'sovereign immunity' from the In Rem maritime
proceeding." Pet. 8. That contention, however, mischaracterizes the
holding below and posits an illusory conflict with Deep Sea Research and
The Davis. Nothing in the court of appeals' decision purports to hold that
some principle of sovereign immunity bars a federal court sitting in admiralty
from determining claims against sovereign property that is not within the
sovereign's actual possession. To the contrary, the court did in fact adjudicate
competing claims concerning the property and held, on the merits, that the
government retained an ownership interest in the property and therefore
had a right to reject salvage services. As such, the decision does not turn
on considerations of sovereign immunity and does not in any way conflict
with Deep Sea Research or The Davis.
c. Petitioner's assertion (Pet. 24-26) that the holding below will harm
implementation of the Abandoned Shipwreck Act is without merit. The court
of appeals found that "[n]either party has argued that the [Abandoned
Shipwreck] Act applies in this case, perhaps because the in rem defendant
is not a shipwreck and is not 'embedded in the submerged lands of a State.'"
Pet. App. 11a n.12. The holding thus does not apply to the Abandoned Shipwreck
Act or otherwise implicate questions concerning that Act's meaning or implementation.
2. The court of appeals' holding that an owner of property lost at sea may
refuse salvage services is correct and consistent with the decisions of
this Court and other federal courts.
a. Under admiralty law, the mere fact that the owner has left sunken property
at sea does not mean that he must be deemed to have relinquished all property
interests in the wreckage. Admiralty law instead draws a distinction between
property that is subject to the law of finds and property that is subject
to the law of salvage. If the owner of the wreckage has abandoned the property,
the wreckage is deemed to have no owner at all and thus becomes subject
to the law of finds-a finders, keepers principle. If, however, the property
lost at sea is not abandoned, the law of finds does not apply and the rights
to the wreckage instead are determined under the admiralty law of salvage.
The law of salvage in turn assumes that the property has an owner who has
not abandoned it, and that the salvor, though entitled to compensation for
his efforts in some circumstances, may not act in derogation of the remaining
property interests of the owner. See, e.g., Fairport Int'l Exploration,
Inc. v. The Shipwrecked Vessel, 177 F.3d 491 (6th Cir. 1999); R.M.S. Titanic,
Inc. v. Haver, 171 F.3d 943, 962-964 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 528 U.S.
825 (1999); Columbus-America Discov-ery Group v. Atlantic Mut. Ins. Co.,
974 F.2d 450, 459-465 (4th Cir. 1992), cert. denied, 507 U.S. 1000 (1993);
Treasure Salvors, Inc. v. Unidentified Wrecked & Abandoned Sailing Vessel
(Treasure Salvors III), 640 F.2d 560, 567 (5th Cir. 1981).
b. In accordance with those well-established principles and consistent with
the ordinary incidents of property ownership, it is well settled that an
owner of property in maritime peril may refuse salvage of its property for
any reason or no reason. See, e.g., The Indian, 159 F. 20, 24-25 (5th Cir.
1908); Platoro Ltd., Inc. v. Unidentified Remains of a Vessel, 695 F.2d
893 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 818 (1983); see gen-erally Martin
J. Norris, The Law of Salvage in 3A Bene-dict on Admiralty §§
114-116 (rev. 7th ed. 1997) (col-lecting cases). Indeed, as one court has
noted:
If the master of a burning vessel prefers to allow her to burn rather than
to permit outside parties to extinguish the flames, he may do so. He has
a perfect right to decline any assistance that may be offered him: he should
not be assisted against his will.
New Harbor Prot. Co. v. Charles P. Chouteau, 5 F. 463, 464 (D. La. 1881).
Thus, " 'potential salvors' do not have any inherent right to save
distressed vessels. Their activities must be subject to the owner's acquiescence."
Jupiter Wreck, Inc. v. Unidentified, Wrecked & Abandoned Sailing Vessel,
691 F. Supp. 1377, 1389 (S.D. Fla. 1988).
The principle that an owner may refuse salvage extends to wrecked vessels
and other property lost at sea, even if the property has been lost for many
years. Thus, in Sea Hunt, Inc., supra, treasure hunters sought an in rem
order awarding them salvage rights in two Spanish frigates that sank off
the coast of Virginia in 1750 and 1802, respectively. Consistent with the
decision here, the court of appeals in that case held that: despite the
passage of nearly two hundred years, Spain had not abandoned its ownership
of the vessels; Spain had expressly communicated its refusal of salvage
services to the salvors; and the salvor therefore could not go forward over
the owner's objection. 221 F.3d at 638-640, 643-648. Accord Yukon Recovery,
205 F.3d at 1197 (noting authority for proposition that owner may reject
salvage by a volunteer); Lathrop v. Unidentified Wrecked and Abandoned Vessel,
817 F. Supp. 953, 964 (M.D. Fla. 1993) (government, as owner of shipwreck
embedded in governmental land, may refuse salvage services where salvage
operation would interfere with government's management of natural and historic
resources); Jupiter Wreck, 691 F. Supp. at 1388-1389 (same).
Petitioner suggests that there is a body of case law inconsistent with the
decision below, holding that a salvor's right to continue salvage services
takes precedence over an owner's right to reject salvage services. None
of the cases cited by petitioner (see Pet. 13, 16), however, supports that
contention or otherwise casts doubt on an owner's right to refuse salvage
services. Treasure Salvors III, supra, and MDM Salvage, Inc. v. Unidentified,
Wrecked and Abandoned Sailing Vessel, 631 F. Supp. 308 (S.D. Fla. 1986),
concern the claims of competing salvors and do not address an owner's right
to reject salvage services. Cobb Coin Co. v. Unidentified, Wrecked and Abandoned
Sailing Vessel, 525 F. Supp. 186 (S.D. Fla. 1981), addresses whether the
Eleventh Amendment bars the federal court from adjudicating a state's claim
of ownership to artifacts salvaged from its territorial waters. And Legnos
v. M/V Olga Jacob, 498 F.2d 666 (5th Cir. 1974), concerns whether a vessel
was truly in maritime peril so as to permit entry of a salvage award. The
decision below thus does not conflict with any of those cases.
CONCLUSION
The petition for a writ of certiorari should be denied.
Respectfully submitted.
SETH P. WAXMAN
Solicitor General
DAVID W. OGDEN
Assistant Attorney General
ROBERT S. GREENSPAN
JEFFREY CLAIR
Attorneys
JANUARY 2001
1 "N.R." refers to the docket entry number of the District Court
for the Southern District of Florida.
2 Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2 of the Constitution (Property Clause),
states that "The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all
needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property
belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be
so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any
particular State."
3 See, e.g., Yukon Recovery, LLC v. Certain Abandoned Prop., 205 F.3d 1189
(9th Cir.), cert. denied, 121 S. Ct. 62 (2000); Columbus-America Discovery
Group v. Atlantic Mut. Ins. Co., 203 F.3d 291, 303-304 (4th Cir.), cert.
denied, 121 S. Ct. 277 (2000).
4 Petitioner states in passing (Pet. 18) that this Court's decision in The
Lottawanna, 88 U.S. (21 Wall.) 558, 575 (1875), requires one uniform standard
of abandonment. That decision, however, holds that the admiralty standards
must be applied uniformly throughout the country, not that the courts lack
the power to establish different standards for the abandonment of sovereign
and private property.