Fiese v. Sitorius
Nebraska Supreme Court
526 N.W.2d 86 (1995)
Larry Fiese (plaintiff) and his father before him operated an agricultural spraying business and airstrip since 1969, with planes routinely taking off and landing over the neighboring Sitoriuses' farm (defendants). In 1992, the Sitoriuses placed a tall stack of hay, and had earlier erected a 25-foot pole, specifically to obstruct that flight path. Fiese sued to stop any obstruction, claiming he had acquired a prescriptive avigation easement (a right to fly over the neighboring land) through decades of use. The trial court held no such prescriptive easement had ever been established and dismissed the case; Fiese appealed.
Whether the use of another's property must be adverse, rather than permissive, to give rise to a prescriptive easement.