This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

D used a helicopter in connection with its oil drilling operations about 100 miles from the Louisiana shore. The helicopter crashed outside Louisiana's territorial waters, killing the pilot and three passengers. In a suit brought by the passengers' widows (Ps), in their representative capacities, the District Court accepted admiralty jurisdiction. The court found that the deaths were caused by D's negligence. The court awarded damages equal to the pecuniary losses suffered by the families of two passengers. The court valued the two families' loss of society at $100,000 and $155,000 but held that the law did not authorize recovery for this loss. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that Ps were entitled to claim damages for loss of society. D appealed.

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