McLAUGHLIN, Circuit Judge.
The chief question here is whether there was substantial evidence on which the jury could reasonably find that plaintiff-appellee was "a master or member of a crew of any vessel". See McKie v. Diamond Marine Co., 5 Cir., 1953, 204 F.2d 132; Schantz v. American
Appellee was employed by appellant as a railroad brakeman. As part of his duties, he helped move box cars on to car floats in the Delaware River. Since he sustained the injury which is the basis for the action below while performing the latter duties, he cannot take advantage of the Federal Employers' Liability Act,
The jury found that appellee was a master or member of a crew of a vessel. If the facts, which are largely undisputed, support this finding or if different conclusions can reasonably be drawn from such facts, the jury's finding must stand. South Chicago Coal & Dock Co. v. Bassett, 1940, 309 U.S. 251, 60 S.Ct. 544, 84 L.Ed. 732; Gahagan Const. Corporation v. Armao, 1 Cir., 1948, 165 F.2d 301, 305.
The standards by which the courts have determined whether or not a person comes within the statutory definition are (1) that the ship be in navigation, (2) that there be a more or less permanent connection with the ship, and (3) that the worker be aboard primarily to aid in navigation. McKie v. Diamond Marine Co., supra, 204 F.2d at page 136; Gahagan Const. Corporation v. Armao, supra, 165 F.2d at page 305; Carumbo v. Cape Cod S. S. Co., supra, 123 F.2d at page 995; Wilkes v. Mississippi River Sand & Gravel Co., 6 Cir., 1953, 202 F.2d 383, 388, certiorari denied 1953, 346 U.S. 817, 74 S.Ct. 29, 98 L.Ed. 344.
The car float upon which appellee was injured was being loaded at the dock and appellee never remained on the float when it crossed the Delaware. Nevertheless it was being readied for river travel and must be considered to have been in navigation. Daffin v. Pape, 5 Cir., 1948, 170 F.2d 622, 624; Cf. Desper v. Starved Rock Ferry Co., 1952, 342 U.S. 187, 72 S.Ct. 216, 96 L.Ed. 205.
But did appellee have a more or less permanent connection with the car float upon which he was injured? We think not. There were twenty or twenty-two floats involved in the box car loading operation. Appellee did not load one particular barge but loaded whatever float happened to be in the slip at the time. In fact, appellee testified that he thought he had been injured upon barge #12 but he was not positive. His counsel, however, stipulated that it was barge #14. He obviously did not have any permanent connection with any particular float.
His position is more like the employee in Gonzalez v. Riverside & Fort Lee Ferry Co., D.C.S.D.N.Y.1942, 43 F.Supp. 366, who readied three different ferry boats for operation in the Hudson River, the stevedore in Rackus v. Moore-McCormack Lines, D.C.E.D.Pa.1949, 85 F.Supp. 185, who loaded and unloaded various ships, and the member of a "shore gang" in Kraft v. A. H. Bull S. S. Co., D.C.S.D.N.Y.1939, 28 F.Supp. 437,
Various definitions of the word "crew" have been put forth in the cases. It has been said that it is used "to connote a company of seamen belonging to the vessel, usually including the officers. It is the `ship's company'". Seneca Washed Gravel Corporation v. McManigal, 2 Cir., 1933, 65 F.2d 779, 780. In Maryland Casualty Co. v. Lawson, 1938, 94 F.2d 190, at page 192, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said:
Appellee does not come within these definitions and there were no facts in evidence from which the jury could reasonably conclude that he did.
As Judge Rifkind said in Gonzalez v. Riverside & Fort Lee Ferry Co., supra, 43 F.Supp. at page 367:
Since there was no evidence upon which a jury could have found that appellee was a crew member of any vessel the judgment below will be reversed with directions to dismiss the action.
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