A medical air transport company approached Eastern New Mexico Medical Center in late 2000 with a proposal to base its helicopter at the hospital and provide air ambulance service to and from the hospital. At that time, the company was a joint venture between MedFlight Air Ambulance and Medical Air Transport (MAT), but at the time of the events at issue in this case, MedFlight had pulled out of the joint venture. For convenience, the service will be referred to as MAT.
The hospital allegedly did little to investigate the competence of the company. It called another hospital listed as a reference by MAT to ask about its track record but otherwise relied on the company's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and state licensure to assure itself that the company was competent to perform the services. The hospital and MAT entered into an agreement in December 2000 to provide services for the hospital.
In October 2001, MAT held a training program to orient law enforcement personnel in establishing landing zones in locations remote from a helipad. Damon Talbott, a police officer, was participating in the exercise. At the conclusion of the exercise, he and two other officers went up in the helicopter on an orientation flight. The helicopter crashed as a result of either overly aggressive maneuvering or a failure of the hydraulic system. The crash was attributable to the pilot's negligence, and Officer Talbott was killed in the crash. Officer Talbott's estate brought suit for wrongful death against, among others, the hospital for its negligence in selecting MAT to provide air ambulance services for it. This claim was based on section 411 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts. The jury at trial found for the plaintiff, but the court of appeals reversed. The case went to trial a second time, and the jury again found for the plaintiff. This appeal arose out of the second trial.