GARA Resists Another Challenge To Diminish Statute Of Repose
A unanimous en banc panel of the Pennsylvania Superior Court has held the issuance of Service Bulletins does not toll or restart the clock for calculating the statute of repose found in the federal General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994. In Moyer v. Teledyne Continental Motors Inc., No. 1402 EDA 2007, 2009 WL 1929328 (Pa. Super. July 7, 2009). Appellants (Plaintiffs), relying on Caldwell v. Enstron Helicopter Corp., 230 F.3d 1155 (9th Cir. 2005) that held flight manuals could be considered a new part or defective system sufficient to restart the clock, sought a similar ruling from the Court that would treat frequently issued Service Bulletins in the same manner as instruction manuals in an effort to circumvent the 18 year statute of repose.
The Superior Court, however, finding support in a 2009 Washington Court of Appeals matter captioned, Burton v. Twin Commander Aircraft, 148 Wash. App. 606 (Wash. Ct. App. Feb. 9, 2009) that held maintenance manuals are not to be considered a “part of an aircraft” extended the Burton ruling to Service Bulletins. The Moyer Court held Service Bulletins are distinguishable from instruction manuals, in part, because in the Caldwell case, it was the manual itself that was defective for failing to supply critical information to the operator, whereas in the Moyer case it was the aircraft part/component that was defective-not the Service Bulletin. The Court determined that a Service Bulletin is more analogous to a repair/maintenance manual used by mechanics for purposes of troubleshooting, repair and maintenance of an aircraft.
Rejecting Appellant’s assertions that Congress considered and intended to include the re-issuance of Service Bulletins to re-trigger the statute of repose, the Moyer Court held, instead, that frequency upon which Service Bulletins are issued would, to the contrary, frustrate and erode the intent of the Act if the issuance of Service Bulletins could be used to restart the clock.
