Facts
In this case, the State Council of the Canton of Valais requisitioned helicopters belonging to company X. SA in order to be prepared to deal with avalanche risks. During a reconnaissance mission, the helicopter piloted by an employee of X. SA collided with the cables of a cableway belonging to the applicant A. and crashed, thereby damaging the cableway.
The applicant A. then brought an action for damages against X. SA. The cantonal courts considered that X. SA was responsible for the damage suffered by the applicant. X. SA appealed against this decision.
Considerations
The Federal Court ruled that the liability lay not with X. SA, but with the Canton of Valais as the authority that ordered the requisition of the helicopter as part of the civil protection measures. Indeed, according to Art. 58(1) and (3) of the Federal Act on Civil Protection (LPCi), the public body that orders such measures assumes causal liability for the damages suffered by third parties.
Art. 58(6) LPCi, which reserves the application of other legal provisions on liability, does not change this rule. This paragraph aims to harmonize the liability regimes, so that only the…