A verified, source-linked record of eminent domain condemnations, inverse-condemnation
(avigation and overflight) takings, ground-lease reversion fights, and airport-closure disputes across
the United States.
Compiled by Valuation Takes Flight (Dr. Clay W. Carter), aviation real estate and
hangar valuation.
How many of these are there?
No public agency counts hangar or airport takings, and there is no federal or state registry of them.
This tracker documents 87 verified matters from 1944–2026
across 30 states, each one tied to a retrieved source.
That set is only what reaches the public record. Reported appellate decisions on aviation takings number
just a handful nationwide each year. Below them sit an estimated dozens to a few hundred condemnation actions
filed annually. And going by the roughly 3,300 federally funded airports (about 97 percent publicly owned)
that periodically acquire runway land, runway-protection-zone parcels, and avigation easements under the
Uniform Act, the real figure is likely in the high hundreds to low thousands of appraisable parcels a year.
What drives appraisal work here is routine airport land acquisition, not the thin stream of reported case law.
Matters by category
The four legal categories this tracker covers.
Disclosed owner awards over time
Each dot is a matter with a stated compensation figure, on a log scale. Hollow markers are interim or vacated figures, not final.
Case database
Search, filter by category, and click any row for the appraisal issue, outcome, counsel, and source.
Sort by clicking a column header.
Case / Matter ↕
Category ↕
Trigger
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Source
Valuation Takes Flight
Appraisal and expert testimony for hangar and airport takings
When a hangar, FBO, or airport parcel is condemned, burdened by an avigation easement,
or caught in a lease-reversion fight, the outcome turns on a credible, defensible valuation. Valuation
Takes Flight is built around exactly these matters, led by Dr. Clay W. Carter.
Hangar and aviation property appraisal
USPAP-compliant valuations of hangars, FBOs, and airport real estate, including special-purpose and leasehold interests.
Eminent domain and condemnation
Just-compensation analysis, before-and-after value, and severance damages for direct takings.
Avigation easements and RPZ
Diminution studies for overflight easements and runway-protection-zone restrictions.
Leasehold and hangar reversion
Value of ground leaseholds and tenant-built hangars facing reversion at the end of a lease.
Expert witness and litigation support
Appraisal reports and testimony for property owners, attorneys, airports, and insurers.
Rent and market studies
Ground-rent and hangar-rent analysis, including the general-aviation Hangar Rent Index.
Who it serves: property owners, condemnation attorneys, airports and municipalities, and insurers.Request a consultation
Sizing the universe
No agency publishes a national count of hangar or airport takings, so these FAA, NPIAS, NATA,
and AOPA figures size the field indirectly. Gaps in the data are shown as gaps, not guesses.
Law firms for these situations
Attorneys who handle aviation eminent domain and inverse-condemnation matters. Owner-side firms
represent property owners; airport and authority-side firms represent the other side. A few specialist
consultants are listed as well.
Aviation takings and appraisal FAQ
Common questions about hangar and airport eminent domain, avigation easements, inverse condemnation, and valuation.
How many hangar and airport eminent domain cases are there?
There is no public registry of hangar or airport takings; no federal or state agency counts them. This tracker documents 87 verified U.S. matters from 1944 to 2026, covering direct eminent domain condemnations, inverse-condemnation and avigation-easement takings, ground-lease reversion disputes, and airport closures. The documented set is only what reaches the public record; routine airport land acquisition under the Uniform Act likely produces high hundreds to low thousands of appraisable parcels each year.
What is eminent domain appraisal for aircraft hangars?
Eminent domain appraisal for hangars is the valuation of a hangar, FBO, or airport parcel that is taken or burdened by a government condemnation, used to establish just compensation. It addresses the property's highest and best use, special-purpose and leasehold interests, and severance or remainder damages. Because hangars are special-purpose improvements often built on leased airport land, they call for an appraiser experienced in aviation real estate.
How are avigation easements and runway protection zones valued?
Avigation easements and runway-protection-zone (RPZ) takings are usually valued with a before-and-after analysis: the difference between the property's fair market value before the easement and its value afterward. Where an RPZ easement effectively destroys the utility of the remainder, courts have treated it as close to a total taking. Verdicts in this tracker range from a few thousand dollars to several hundred thousand for a single easement.
What is inverse condemnation for airport noise and overflights?
Inverse condemnation is a claim that frequent low overflights, aircraft noise, or approach restrictions have effected a de facto taking of an air easement without a formal condemnation. The doctrine traces to United States v. Causby (1946) and Griggs v. Allegheny County (1962), which placed liability on the airport proprietor. Recovery usually turns on a measurable diminution in market value and on when the taking accrued.
Do I need an appraiser or a condemnation attorney for a hangar taking?
Most contested hangar and airport takings involve both. A condemnation attorney handles the legal claim and negotiation, while an appraiser provides the valuation and expert testimony that establish just compensation. This tracker lists the law firms that handle these matters alongside the appraisal and expert-witness services offered by Valuation Takes Flight.
How is a hangar valued when a ground lease reverts to the airport?
When a tenant-built hangar reverts to the airport sponsor at the end of a ground lease, the dispute usually centers on whether the owner is owed compensation for the improvements and, if so, their value. Valuation weighs the depreciated cost or income value of the hangar, the remaining lease term, and any reversion or removal clause. Several matters in this tracker turn on exactly this question.
Assembled from primary court opinions (Justia, FindLaw, CourtListener, OpenJurist, and government dockets)
and contemporaneous reporting. Every case name, citation, and dollar figure traces to a retrieved source.
Where a figure was not made public it is marked Not disclosed, Pending, or N/A rather than estimated. The
owner-compensation column is the headline amount paid to the private owner, shown for sorting; the full award
wording in each row carries the exact detail. Interim commissioners' awards and vacated judgments are marked
as not final.
This is a research tool, not legal or appraisal advice. Verify any matter against
its cited source before relying on it.