Aviation Product Liability
Aircraft product liability lawsuits determine whether an
accident was caused by a part of the aircraft, pilot error,
or a combination of both.
Strict Liability
The manufacturer of an aircraft can be held liable if the
victim of an accident can prove that a defect in the product
(the aircraft) caused his or her injuries. This is referred
to as strict liability. It is important to remember that liability
laws differ from state to state.
In almost half of the states in the U.S., product liability
laws may hold a manufacturer responsible if a defective product
is "unreasonably dangerous" when used by an average
consumer.
In the majority of states, product liability laws hold a
manufacturer responsible if a defective product does not perform
as expected when used either in the intended manner or in
a "reasonably foreseeable" manner. In some cases,
a "risk-benefit" test may be used to determine if
the risk associated with the design of the product outweighs
the benefits of the design. This means that the jury will
decide if an alternative design could have been used to prevent
the problem; factors considered by the jurors include the
alternative design's cost and potential side effects.
In many cases, both the pilot and the manufacturer are held
liable for an aircraft accident. For example, an aircraft
may suddenly lose oil pressure due to a defective oil line
and the pilot may overreact to the incident, making an unnecessary
landing that results in injury to crew and passengers. In
this case, the manufacturer would be held responsible for
the faulty oil line, and the pilot would be held responsible
for attempting an unnecessary and, ultimately, dangerous landing.
General Aviation Act
Congress passed the General
Aviation Revitalization Act (GARA) in 1994. It protects
manufacturers of non-commercial aircraft (light aircraft and
business aircraft with maximum seating of less than 20 passengers)
from product liability lawsuits for defects on aircraft older
than 18 years. This means that once an aircraft and its original
components reach 18 years of age, the manufacturer cannot
be held responsible for an accident caused by a defective
product. As a result, lawsuits are often brought against the
pilot, the owner of the aircraft, mechanics, replacement component
part manufacturers, and aircraft distributors. |
