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GENERAL AVIATION REVITAUZATION ACT OF 1993 (103-40) 4.P 96/11:103-40 HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON AVIATION OF THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC WORKS AND TRANSPORTATION HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED THIRD CONGRESS FIRST SESSION ON H.R. 3087 TO AMEND THE FEDERAL AVIATION ACT OF 1958 TO ESTABLISH TIME LIMITATIONS ON CERTAIN CIVIL ACTIONS AGAINST AIRCRAFT MANU- FACTURERS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES OCTOBER 27, 1993 Printed for the use of the Committee on Public Works and Transportation May 4 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON 1994 : ForsalebytheU.S.GovernmentPrintingOffice SuperintendentofDocuments,CongressionalSalesOffice,Washington.DC 20402 ISBN 0-16-043922-1 GENERAL AVIATION REVITAUZATION ACT OF 1993 (103-40) 4.P 96/11:103-40 HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON AVIATION OF THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC WORKS AND TRANSPORTATION HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED THIRD CONGRESS FIRST SESSION ON H.R. 3087 TO AMEND THE FEDERAL AVIATION ACT OF 1958 TO ESTABLISH TIME LIMITATIONS ON CERTAIN CIVIL ACTIONS AGAINST AIRCRAFT MANU- FACTURERS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES OCTOBER 27, 1993 Printed for the use of the Committee on Pubhc Works and Transportation ri y. COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC WORKS AND TRANSPORTATION NORMANY. MINETA, California, Chair JAMES L. OBERSTAR, Minnesota BUD SHUSTER, Pennsylvania NICK J. RAHALL II, WestVirginia WILLIAM F. CLINGER, Jr., Pennsylvania DOUGLAS APPLEGATE, Ohio THOMAS E. PETRI, Wisconsin RON DE LUGO, Virgin Islands SHERWOOD L. BOEHLERT, New York ROBERT A. BORSKI, Pennsylvania JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma TIM VALENTINE, North CaroUna BILL EMERSON, Missouri WILLIAM O. LIPINSKI, IlUnois JOHNJ. DUNCAN, Jr., Tennessee ROBERT E. WISE, Jr., West Virginia SUSAN MOLINARI, New York JJPAAEMMTEEERSSAAA DTHeRAFAYAFEZISIC,OA,LNoTOu,riesJgirao.nn,aOhio TWWIHALOYLMNIAEASMT.WH..GIEZLEWCLIHINRFGEF,,STIJ,lrl.i,MnoaNirseywlaHnadmpshire BOB CLEMENT, Tennessee JENNIFER DUNN, Washington JERRY F. COSTELLO, Illinois Y. TIM HUTCHINSON, Arkansas MIKE PARKER, Mississippi BILL BAKER, California GREG LAUGHLIN, Texas MICHAEL A. "TVIAC" COLLINS, Georgia PETE GEREN, Texas JAY KIM, Cahfomia GEORGE E. SANGMEISTER, Illinois DAVID A LEVY, New York GLENN POSHARD, IlUnois STEPHEN HORN, Cahfomia DICK SWETT, New Hampshire BOB FRANKS, New Jersey BUD CRAMER, Alabama PETER I. BLUTE, Massachusetts BARBARA-ROSE COLLINS, Michigan HOWARD P. "BUCK" McKEON, Cahfomia ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of JOHN L. MICA, Florida Columbia PETER HOEKSTRA, Michigan LUCIEN E. BLACKWELL, Pennsylvania JACK QUINN, New York JERROLD NADLER, NewYork SAM COPPERSMITH, Arizona LESLIE L. BYRNE, Virginia MARIA CANTWELL, Washington PAT DANNER, Missouri KAREN SHEPHERD, Utah ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey JAMES E. CLYBURN, South Carolina CORRINE BROWN, Florida NATHAN DEAL, Georgia JAMES A. BARCIA, Michigan DAN HAMBURG, California BOB FILNER, California WALTER R. TUCKER, III, California EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas PETER W. BARCA, Wisconsin (II) Ill Subcommittee on Aviation JAMES L. OBERSTAR, Minnesota, Chair RON DE LUGO, Virgin Islands, WILLIAM F. CLINGER, Jr., Pennsylvania Vice Chair SHERWOOD L. BOEHLERT, New York WILLIAM O. LIPINSKI, Illinois JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma PETE GEREN, Texas JOHN J. DUNCAN, Jr., Tennessee GEORGE E. SANGMEISTER, Illinois THOMAS W. EWING, Illinois BARBARA-ROSE COLLINS, Michigan WAYNE T. GILCHREST, Maryland SAM COPPERSMITH, Arizona JENNIFER B. DUNN, Washington ROBERT A. BORSKI, Pennsylvania MICHAEL A. "MAC" COLLINS, Georgia TIM VALENTINE, North CaroUna JAY KIM, California PETERA. DeFAZIO, Oregon DAVID A. LEVY, New York JAMES A. HAYES, Loxiisiana STEPHEN HORN, Cahfornia BOB CLEMENT, Tennessee HOWARD P. "BUCK" McKEON, California JERRY F. COSTELLO, Illinois JOHN L. MICA, Florida MIKE PARKER, Mississippi BUD SHUSTER, Pennsylvania GREG LAUGHLIN, Texas (Ex Officio) DICK SWETT, New Hampshire BUD CRAMER, Alabama LUCIEN E. BLACKWELL, Pennsylvania MARIA CANTWELL, Washington PAT DANNER, Missouri KAREN SHEPHERD, Utah CORRINE BROWN, Florida NICKJ. RAHALL II, West Virginia NORMAN Y. MINETA, CaUfomia (Ex Officio) CONTENTS Page Summaryofsubjectmatter(staffmemorandum) VII H.R. 3087 (text) XIX Testimony Boyer, Phil, President, AircraftOwners and PilotsAssociation 53 Collins, TheodoreJ., Vice Presidentand General Counsel, the BoeingCo 24 Glickman, Hon. Dan, aRepresentativein Congress from Kansas 6 Hansen, Hon. JamesV., a Representative in Congressfrom Utah 6 Herwald, Chairman and ChiefExecutive Officer, StevensAviation, Inc 53 Katzman, David Ian • 68 Leavens, WiUiam B., Ill, President, Mid-AtlanticAviation Coalition 77 McNamara, Jack, on behalfoftheNewJerseyAviationAdvisory Council 77 Meyer, RusseU W., Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Cessna Air- craft;Co 24 Mitchell, Monte, President,Aircraft;ElectronicsAssociation 53 Stimpson, Edward W., President, General Aviation Manufacturers Associa- tion 24 Sontag, FrederickB., President, Inison Industries, Inc 24 Simia, Charles M., President and Chief Operating Officer, Piper Aircraft Corp 24 West, Pete, President, Government Affairs, National Business Aircraft Asso- ciation 53 Prepared Statements Submitted by Members of Congress CoUins, Hon. "Mac", ofGeorgia 6 Coppersmith, Hon. Sam, ofArizona 22 Inhofe, Hon. James M., ofOklahoma 5 Prepared Statements Submitted by Witnesses Boyer, Phil 91 Collins, TheodoreJ 97 Glickman, Hon. Dan 104 Hansen, Hon. JamesV 106 Herwald, KurtA 109 Katzman, David Ian 115 Leavens, William B., Ill 117 McNamara,Jack 121 W Meyer, Russell 126 Mitchell, MonWte 135 Olcott, John W 141 Stimpson, Edward 145 Sontag, FrederickB 160 M Suma, Charles 166 Submissions for the Record Clinger, Hon. William F., Jr., a Representative in Congress from Pennsylva- nia: Post-hearing questions to: General Aviation Manufacturers Association 39 GUckman, Hon. Dan, a Representative in Congress from Kansas, letter from F. LeeBailey 15 (V) VI Oberstar, Hon. James L., a Representative in Congress from Minnesota, ^"^ statement of Hon. Gersild L. Baliles, former chairman, National Airline Commission 18 Stimps—on, Edward M., President, General Aviation Manufacturers Associa- tion section 21.3 (reporting offailures, malfunctions, and defects) Federal AirRegulations 49 Additions to the Record Clinger, Hon. William F., Jr., a Representative in Congress from Pennsylva- nia, letter to the National Transportation Safety Board, and letter of re- sponse 176 Stimpson, Edward W., President, General Aviation Manufacturers Associa- tion, letter 171 " LBniNf.Vb«WM la.g'. Bou0E ofEqnTEBOitaKittB COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC WORKS AND TRANSPORTATION SUITE2166HAYBURNHOUSEOFFICEBUILDING WASHINGTON.DC20616 (202)226-4472 MEMORAHPnM TO: Members of the Subcommittee on Aviation FROM: Committee's Aviation Staff DATE: October 25, 1993 This hearing will consider product liability problems faced by the general aviationmanufacturing industry and the relationship of product liability to the industry's recent decline. A focal point will be H.R. 3087, the General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1993, introduced by Congressmen Glickman and Hansen with 241 cosponsors. H.R. 3087 seeks to lessen the burden of product liability on general aviationmanufacturers. The bill provides that in lawsuits arising from general aviation accidents, damages may not be collected from a manufacturer if the accident occurred more than 15 years after the aircraft was first delivered or, with respect to problems caused by a faulty replacement part, more than 15 years after the date on which that part was added to the aircraft. This type of legislation is commonly referred to as a "statute of repose. Z. PRIOR LBOZSIATZOH In the 100 and lOlst Congresses, the Committee on Public WorKs and Transportation reported comprehensive bills establishing (VII) VIII 2 unifom federal standards for acciden't cases involving general aviation aircraft. These bills dealt not only with statutes of repose, but also with such issues such as comparative liability and general standards of liability. These bills were also referred to the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Energy and Commerce. The other two Committees did not teOce action in either Congress on the legislation, so the bills were never considered by the full House. II. HBEO FOR LBGISLATIOM The legislation responds to the serious decline in the manufacture and sale of general aviation aircraft by United States companies. In 1979, United States companies manufactured more than 17,000 general aviation aircraft. This output rapidly declined in the early 1980s to the point where only 2,600 aircraft were produced in 1983. The recent recession has caused a further decline, to 899 aircraft in 1992. The decline in the number of aircraft produced has been more pronounced than the decline in revenues realized. The latter declined from $2.2 billion in 1978 to $1.8 billion in 1992. The reason for the slower decline in revenues is that the aircraft manufactured in the 1990s are largely business jet aircraft which are considerably more expensive now than they were in the late 1970s.