Provides a limitation of liability to a landowner who authorizes the free use of his private property for aeronautical activities at nonpublic use airports

House Bill 718 enacts Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:2791.2 to establish a limitation of liability for private landowners who permit aeronautical activities on nonpublic use airports located on their property. The statute exempts such landowners from liability for injuries or property damage arising from conditions or defects on the land, whether naturally occurring or manmade, provided the landowner has not willfully or maliciously failed to warn against dangerous conditions, uses, structures, or activities. The law defines aeronautical activities broadly to encompass aircraft transportation, aircraft operations and maintenance, airport operations, and flight instruction. Significantly, the statute clarifies that landowners may permit such activities without charge or with various forms of consideration including shared products, cost-sharing contributions, or donations, all of which fall outside the definition of a direct admission fee that would convert the use to a commercial activity.

Private landowners who operate nonpublic use airports on their property are the primary beneficiaries of this liability shield. The statute applies to owners, lessees, tenants, and occupants who permit aeronautical activities on their land and protects them from civil liability claims by individuals injured during such activities. The definition of nonpublic use airport focuses on facilities primarily used by the owner with access granted at the owner's discretion, distinguishing these from publicly operated airports. The law does not protect commercial recreational development operators, meaning entities that operate commercial aviation facilities or similar commercial enterprises remain subject to standard premises liability duties. Individuals and organizations using nonpublic use airports for aeronautical purposes retain their own obligations to exercise reasonable care and remain responsible for injuries they cause through their own negligent or reckless conduct.

This statute operates within Louisiana's existing recreational use immunity framework established in prior law that protects landowners permitting hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, sightseeing, and boating on their properties. The new provision extends that same liability protection to the aeronautical context, treating aeronautical activities as a recognized recreational purpose under state tort law. The statute's definition of malicious conduct explicitly excludes negligent or reckless conduct, meaning landowners lose their immunity protection only when they intentionally engage in misconduct they know or should know will cause harm. The provision applies to all lands owned, leased, or managed by the owner regardless of the land's primary purpose, creating a broad immunity that encompasses not only dedicated airstrips but also any property where aeronautical activities might occur. This operates as a limitation on tort liability and does not create any affirmative duty or requirement that landowners allow such activities, leaving the decision to permit aeronautical uses entirely within the owner's discretion.