Colmenares Vivas v. Sun Alliance Insurance Co.
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
807 F.2d 1102 (1st Cir. 1986)
Mrs. Colmenares was holding an escalator handrail at a Puerto Rico airport when the handrail suddenly stopped moving while the stairs kept advancing, causing her to lose balance; her husband grabbed her and then tumbled down the escalator himself, injuring both. They sued Sun Alliance (defendant), the airport's liability insurer, which brought in maintenance contractor Westinghouse as a third party; the trial court found no evidence of airport negligence and declined to apply res ipsa loquitur, reasoning the escalator was not at all times within the airport's exclusive control given Westinghouse's maintenance role.
Whether negligence on the part of a defendant may ever be presumed from the mere occurrence of an accident.