Aviation News

Mention “product liability” to most aviation professionals and you’ll almost surely provoke a torrent of comments about frivolous lawsuits and gold-digging passengers claiming emotional distress over some minor incident. In reality, the key issue in most product liability lawsuits is whether the accident was pilot-caused, machine-caused, or some combination — or as a lawyer might […]

Thepreparation leading up to my first flight in a new aircraft design always renewsmy sense of adventure and stirs a bit of trepidation, as well. The promise ofsome new adventure, rooted in my hedonistic curiosity about airplanes, generallyoverwhelms any degree of anxiety attached to the coming flight. Nonetheless, arriving at the main gate of The […]

Introduction — By Phil Kolczynski “Enforcement Survival School” is like finding yourself in Jurassic Park. I’ll let you guess who the dinosaurs are. In Jurassic Park I, a.k.a., “Enforcement Survival School, Part 1,” the lawyer was devoured by “T-REX” right off the “john.” At least, he left the legacy of the “Duct Tape Defense.” In […]

How frustrating this could be, my mind kept musing. Not three hours earlier the magnificent Three Sisters mountain peaks reached upward through clear skies toward the window seat of a Southwest 737 flying me to Portland International (PDX). No overcast blocked my view until we flew to about 40 miles south of PDX. But the […]

Okay, so far, you’ve followed our advice in Part One of this series: You found a lawyer, used the “Duct Tape Defense,” and managed to keep from incriminating yourself. You’re only getting started, though. At some point you’ll need to rip the tape from your mouth and tell your story. When that time comes you’ll […]

Introduction — Eric Jaderborg While I was working as an FAA inspector, every piece of advice I gave — written or oral — came with an elaborate disclaimer. When I left the agency I thought the need for such measures had passed. Phil, however, suggests that the need has just begun, to wit: DISCLAIMER: The […]

Late last year, a decision was handed down by the first federal appellate court to interpret the General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994 (GARA), which immunized general aviation manufacturers for defects in aircraft or component parts older than 18 years. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals sitting in southern California carved a hole in GARA […]

As anyone who closely followed the saga of the FAA’s certificate action against airshow star R.A. “Bob” Hoover during the 1990s would imagine, the “Hoover Bill” amends the appeal provisions of 49 U.S.C. 44709 (Amendments, modifications, suspensions, and revocations of certificates) to allow a certificate holder to obtain interim review of an FAA emergency revocation […]

If Benjamin Braddock paid more attention to his future – and less to Mrs. Robinson- he might today hold an executive position at a young, new airplane company.All Ben, the central character in the classic film, “The Graduate,”had to do was heed that “one word” of advice he received during theopening reel of the movie: […]

I‘m often asked to sum up an airplane in one word. The problem is that most airplanes resist such a simple label. As a result, my responses usually trend toward “neat,” “cool” and “fast,” to “impressive,” “heavy” and “demanding” or to “slick,” “nimble” and “comfy.” Of course, these choices explain next to nothing about the […]