Pilots lose lawsuit against Cessna 14 years after plane crash near Tulsa

The Oklahoma Supreme Court recently ruled against two pilots who survived the crash of a single-engine Cessna airplane  14 years ago and sued Cessna Aircraft Company.

The Justices upheld a lower court ruling that said Cessna was not responsible for a fire that broke out in the plane as Jade P. Schiewe and Zachary Pfaff were landing.  It was Sept. 28, 2010 when flames erupted from under the instrument panel. Flames spread to the floor and filled the cockpit with smoke so the two men ended up crash landing in a nearby field.

Their lawsuit blamed Cessa for not updating its service manual to include a new part and its installation instructions. But Cessna contended the claims of Schiewe and Pfaff were barred by the General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994 which limits liability for aircraft manufacturers for 18 years after the delivery of the airplane to its first purchaser.

In this case, Cessna manufactured the aircraft in January 1980. On February 1, 1980, Cessna sold the aircraft to its first purchaser. The aircraft was certified as airworthy on February 6, 1980. That means the airplane in question, crashed 30 years after it was manufactured and 12 years beyond the GARA liability.

(Cessna 172G similar to plane in question)

They claimed that Cessna was negligent in not updating its service manual to include a new part and its installation instructions. Cessna, however, filed a motion for summary judgment, contending that the plaintiffs’ claims were barred by the General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994 (GARA), an act that limits liability for aircraft manufacturers 18 years after the delivery of the aircraft to its first purchaser.

The Supreme Court of the State of Oklahoma affirmed the lower court’s decision to grant summary judgment in favor of Cessna. The court held that the service manual was created by Cessna in its capacity as a manufacturer, and thus, was included within the limitation period provided in GARA. The court further found that Cessna had not added or omitted anything to the service manual that was a proximate cause of the accident, and thus, the GARA statute of repose did not restart. Therefore, the plaintiffs’ claims were barred by GARA as the statute of repose had expired

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