Baker, J.
Eric Johnson and his estranged wife, Beth, were in the midst of a divorce. Eric was taking flight lessons and in March 2007, he took Emily, their eight-year-old daughter, on a solo airplane flight in Lawrence County. Lawrence County consists of 448 square miles with a population of nearly 46,000. Eric crashed the plane into Vivian Pace’s house, killing himself and Emily. Pace is Beth’s mother, and her residence is one of approximately 18,500 in Lawrence County.
Beth sued the Lawrence County Board of Aviation Commissioners (Aviation Board), Eric’s Flight Instructor, Tony Newbold, and the Lawrence County Commissioners (collectively, the appellees) seeking damages for Emily’s wrongful death. Summary judgment was entered for all defendants. The undisputed designated evidence contained in the record establishes that Eric intentionally flew the airplane he had rented into his mother-in-law’s house. Thus, any negligence that might be attributed to the defendants was superseded by Eric’s intentional acts of flying the airplane into the residence and killing Emily.
Appellant-plaintiff Beth Ann Johnson, the mother of Emily, a minor child, now deceased, appeals the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the appellees. Beth argues that the designated evidence did not establish, as a matter of law, that Eric committed suicide and intentionally killed Emily when he flew the airplane into the house.
In the alternative, Beth argues that even if it could be assumed that Eric’s acts were intentional, the trial court erred in determining that the misuse of an aircraft was not a foreseeable consequence of the airport’s non-existent security procedures.
Concluding that the trial court properly entered summary judgment for the appellees because Eric’s intentional acts were a superseding intervening cause between any alleged negligence of the appellees and Emily’s death, we affirm.
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A. Proximate Cause of Emily’s Death
Beth argues that the trial court erred in granting the appellees’ motions for summary judgment because the trial court erroneously concluded that Eric committed suicide and murdered Emily. Instead, Beth argues that there is a genuine issue of material fact because the designated evidence also supports the reasonable inference that the “aircraft crash that killed Emily . . . and her father was simply a tragic accident.” Appellant’s Reply Br. p. 3.
In resolving this issue, we initially observe that to recover for negligence, a plaintiff must establish: (1) a duty on the defendant’s part to conform his conduct to a standard of care arising from his relationship with the plaintiff; (2) a failure on the part of the defendant to conform his conduct to the requisite standard of care; and (3) an injury to the plaintiff proximately caused by the breach. Van Dayn v. Cook-Teague, 694 N.E.2d 779, 781 (Ind. Ct. App. 1998). An indispensable element of an action for negligence is that the act complained of must be a proximate cause of the injury. Rice v. Strunk, 670 N.E.2d 1280, 1284 (Ind. 1996). To be considered a proximate cause, the negligent act must have set in motion a chain of circumstances which, in the natural, probable and continuous sequence, led to the resulting injury. Merchants Nat’l Bank v. Simrell’s Sports Bar & Grill, Inc., 741 N.E.2d 383, 389 (Ind. Ct. App. 2000). And foreseeability of injury is regarded as an essential element or fundamental test of proximate cause. Johnson v. Bender, 369 N.E.2d 936, 939 (Ind. Ct. App. 1977).
A willful, malicious criminal act of a third party is an intervening act that breaks the causal chain between the alleged negligence and the resulting harm. Merchants Nat’l Bank, 741 N.E.2d at 389. Although proximate cause is generally a question of fact, proximate cause becomes a question of law where only a single conclusion can be drawn from the facts. See Havert v. Caldwell, 452 N.E.2d 154, 159 (Ind. 1983).
As set forth above, the undisputed designated evidence in this case established that Eric should have taken Emily to school on March 5, 2007. Instead, he took Emily to the airport, went alone into the airport building to retrieve the keys, refused assistance from the airport employee, put Emily in the airplane, and commenced a flight lasting approximately one and one-half hours. Appellees’ App. p. 58. Eric also circumvented his instructor’s rule of three supervised solo flights before an unsupervised flight could commence. Appellant’s App. p. 29.
The designated evidence also shows that Eric did not notify his instructor of his intention to fly on the date of the murder and his scheduling of an airplane rental despite his instructor’s personal rule that student pilots should complete three supervised solo flights prior to completing unsupervised solo flights. Appellees’ App. p. 37.
Eric attempted to contact Beth on her cell phone, and he made angry and threatening statements when he reached Beth on the third attempt. At some point during the conversation, Eric told Beth that she would never see Emily again. Id. at 31, 41, 64. Just before the plane crashed into Pace’s house, two bystanders witnessed the airplane abruptly angle downward and throttle its engines toward the ground, without taking the normal steps to prepare for landing, such as deploying flaps, reducing speed, and shallowing descent. Id. at 67-69. Eric crashed the airplane into the house shortly thereafter. As noted above, Pace’s residence was one of 18,500 houses in Lawrence County.
Eric sent a check for $500 in the mail to a local youth club for a commemorative brick, to be inscribed with both Emily’s and his name and a date. Appellees’ App. p. 51-56. The NTSB’s investigation determined that the crash was a murder-suicide. Both the Indiana State Police and Bedford Police considered the incident a murder-suicide. Id. at 127.
In light of the above, we conclude that Eric’s intentional criminal actions triggered the intervening, superseding cause doctrine and broke the causal chain between the Aviation Board’s alleged negligence and Emily’s death. Merchants Nat’l Bank, 741 N.E.2d at 389. Thus, we agree with the trial court’s determination that none of the actions or inaction of any of the appellees could be considered a proximate cause of Emily’s death as a matter of law. As a result, we conclude that Johnson has failed to meet her burden of proof establishing that the trial court erred in granting the appellees’ motions for summary judgment on this basis.
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For all these reasons, we conclude that the trial court properly granted summary judgment for the appellees.
The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
KIRSCH, J., and BROWN, J., concur.