## Facts

- Loretta Jean Lawter, her husband Oren Lawter, and two relatives were in a 16-foot skiff in Biscayne Bay near Miami when waves swamped the boat, placing all four in the water about 500 yards from shore in roughly four feet of water.
- Small-craft warnings were posted; conditions included wind and rough water.
- A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter on patrol observed the four people in the water with no nearby vessel able to rescue them and initiated a rescue.
- Coast Guard procedure called for an experienced crew member to operate the hoist from the cabin, but the hoist was operated by a crewman found to be inexperienced for that task.
- A rescue sling/belt was lowered; Oren Lawter obtained the belt and, with his brother, attempted to secure it to Loretta when the hoist operator began raising the cable.
- Loretta was lifted to a substantial height and then fell back into the water, sustaining injuries that caused her death.
- The district court found the rescue was negligently performed and found no contributory negligence by Loretta or Oren.

## Issues

1. Whether the United States could be sued and held liable under the Public Vessels Act and the Federal Tort Claims Act for negligence by Coast Guard personnel during an air–sea rescue.
2. Whether the Coast Guard, having undertaken the rescue, breached a duty of reasonable care by operating the hoist in a manner that lifted Loretta before she was secured.
3. Whether Loretta or Oren were contributorily negligent in failing to secure the sling, barring or reducing recovery.
4. Whether the $10,000 damages award after a bench trial was clearly erroneous.

## Decision

- The Fifth Circuit affirmed the judgment for Oren Lawter.
- The court held that the complaint stated a valid cause of action and that statutory waivers permitted liability for negligent performance of an undertaken rescue.
- The court upheld the district court’s findings of Coast Guard negligence and lack of contributory negligence as not clearly erroneous.
- The court rejected both the government’s request to overturn liability and Lawter’s cross-appeal seeking increased damages, leaving the $10,000 award intact.

## Legal Principles

- When the government affirmatively undertakes a rescue, it assumes a duty to perform the rescue with reasonable care and may be liable for negligent performance.
- The distinction between failure to act and negligent affirmative conduct matters: liability may attach for negligent execution of an undertaken operation even if there is no liability for mere nonfeasance.
- Appellate review of factual findings after a bench trial, including negligence, causation, contributory negligence, and damages, is limited; findings are upheld unless clearly erroneous.

## Conclusion

The Fifth Circuit held the United States liable for wrongful death because the Coast Guard’s helicopter rescue was affirmatively undertaken and negligently executed, and it affirmed the trial court’s no-contributory-negligence findings and its $10,000 damages award.


United States v. Lawter, 219 F.2d 559 (5th Cir. 1955)