FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES AVIATION 

UNDERWRITERS INC., a New York

corporation, individually and on

behalf of United States Aircraft

Insurance Group,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

No. 11-35440 v.

D.C. No. NABTESCO CORPORATION, a Japanese  2:10-CV-00821-TSZ company formerly known as TS

Corporation formerly known as OPINION

Teijin Seiki Company LTD;

NABTESCO AEROSPACE INC., a

Washington corporation formerly

known as Teijin Seiki America

Inc.,

Defendants-Appellees. 

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Western District of Washington

Thomas S. Zilly, Senior District Judge, Presiding

Submitted April 11, 2012*

Seattle, Washington

Filed October 2, 2012

*The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision

without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). 

11963
Before: Procter Hug, Jr., Dorothy W. Nelson, and

Consuelo M. Callahan, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Nelson

11964 UNITED STATES AVIATION UNDERWRITERS v. NABTESCO
COUNSEL

Jon A. Kodani, Jeffrey J. Williams, Law Offices of Jon A.

Kodani, Santa Monica, California, for the plaintiff-appellant.

Christopher S. Hickey, James W. Hunt, Fitzpatrick & Hunt,

Tucker, Collier, Pagano, Aubert, LLP, Los Angeles, California, for the defendants-appellees.

OPINION

NELSON, Senior Circuit Judge:

After an airplane was damaged in a runway accident,

Appellant United States Aviation Underwriters, Inc.

(“USAU”) indemnified the owner of the aircraft and brought

a subrogation claim against Appellees Nabtesco Corporation

and Nabtesco Aerospace, Inc. (“Nabtesco”). USAU alleged

that the accident resulted from a defective component part, an

actuator, manufactured by Nabtesco. The district court

granted summary judgment to Nabtesco, holding that USAU’s

action was barred by the passage of the eighteen-year statute

of repose set forth in the General Aviation Revitalization Act

of 1994 (“GARA”), Pub. L. No. 103-298, 108 Stat. 1552

(codified at 49 U.S.C. § 40101 notes). USAU appealed, arguing that the statute of repose ran not from the delivery date of

11966 UNITED STATES AVIATION UNDERWRITERS v. NABTESCO
the aircraft in which the actuator was installed originally, but

rather the delivery date of the aircraft that experienced the

accident (“accident aircraft”). We affirm the order of the district court and we hold that the statute of repose began to run

from the date that the component part, along with the aircraft

in which it was installed originally, was delivered to its first

purchaser.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On August 17, 2009, at an airport near Long Beach, California, a Cessna Citation 560 aircraft (“Cessna 560”) was

damaged when the nose landing gear collapsed during landing. The collapse allegedly was caused by a defect in the nose

landing gear actuator, which is a motor used to extend and

retract a plane’s front wheels and shock absorbers during

takeoff and landing.

The particular nose landing gear actuator in this case, Actuator 339, was manufactured in April 1990 and installed as a

new, original part on a different plane, a Cessna 550 aircraft,

on October 24, 1990. The Cessna 550 was delivered to its first

purchaser on October 30, 1990, more than eighteen years

before the accident. At some point after its delivery, the actuator was removed from the Cessna 550 and overhauled by a

third party. On April 2, 2007, Actuator 339 was installed on

the plane that suffered the accident, the Cessna 560. That

plane had been delivered to its first purchaser on December

30, 1991, less than eighteen years before the accident. 

On May 13, 2010, USAU filed a subrogation claim against

Nabtesco for damage to the accident aircraft. The district

court granted summary judgment to Nabtesco, holding that

the delivery of the Cessna 550, the aircraft in which Actuator

339 was installed originally, triggered the start of GARA’s

eighteen-year statute of repose, GARA § 2(a)(1)(A), and that

USAU’s cause of action was therefore barred because it fell

outside that period. This appeal timely ensued. 

UNITED STATES AVIATION UNDERWRITERS v. NABTESCO 11967
JURISDICTION AND STANDARD OF REVIEW

The district court had diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.

§ 1332(a). We have jurisdiction to review the district court’s

final judgment pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. “We review de

novo a district court’s grant of summary judgment that was

based upon uncontested facts and a disputed construction of

a federal statute.” Blazevska v. Raytheon Aircraft Co., 522

F.3d 948, 951 (9th Cir. 2008). 

DISCUSSION

[1] Because it is undisputed that this action arises from an

accident involving a general aviation aircraft, GARA applies.

GARA § 2(a). “In GARA, Congress established an 18-year

statute of repose for civil actions against manufacturers of

general aviation aircraft and component parts.” Caldwell v.

Enstrom Helicopter Corp., 230 F.3d 1155, 1156 (9th Cir.

2000) (citing GARA §§ 2(a)(1), 3(3)). “Thus, if an accident

occurs . . . on the day after the GARA period runs, no action

whatsoever is possible.” Lyon v. Augusta S.P.A., 252 F.3d

1078, 1084 (9th Cir. 2001). GARA provides that, absent

exceptions not at issue in this appeal: 

[N]o civil action for damages for death or injury to

persons or damage to property arising out of an accident involving a general aviation aircraft may be

brought against the manufacturer of the aircraft or

the manufacturer of any new component, system,

subassembly, or other part of the aircraft, in its

capacity as a manufacturer if the accident occurred

—

(1) after the applicable limitation period beginning

on—

(A) the date of delivery of the aircraft to

its first purchaser or lessee, if deliv11968 UNITED STATES AVIATION UNDERWRITERS v. NABTESCO
ered directly from the manufacturer;

or

(B) the date of first delivery of the aircraft

to a person engaged in the business of

selling or leasing such aircraft; or

(2) with respect to any new component, system,

subassembly, or other part which replaced

another component, system, subassembly, or

other part originally in, or which was added to,

the aircraft, and which is alleged to have

caused such death, injury, or damage, after the

applicable limitation period beginning on the

date of completion of the replacement or addition.

GARA § 2(a). The term “general aviation aircraft” is defined

as follows: 

[A]ny aircraft for which a type certificate or an airworthiness certificate has been issued by the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration,

which, at the time such certificate was originally

issued, had a maximum seating capacity of fewer

than 20 passengers, and which was not, at the time

of the accident, engaged in scheduled passengercarrying operations . . . . 

GARA § 2(c). 

[2] As sections 2(a)(1) and 2(a)(2) above outline,1 GARA

provides two different trigger dates for commencement of the

18-year period of repose. The first trigger date begins on “the

date of delivery of the aircraft to its first purchaser or lessee.”

1Unless otherwise noted, all section references hereafter are to GARA.

UNITED STATES AVIATION UNDERWRITERS v. NABTESCO 11969
GARA § 2(a)(1)(A).2

 The second trigger date, commonly

referred to as the “rolling trigger date,” occurs when a new

component, which is alleged to have caused the accident,

replaces an existing component of the aircraft or is added to

the plane. GARA § 2(a)(2). With respect to the latter, the district court held that the installation of Actuator 339 in the second plane in 2007 did not re-start the GARA clock because

the actuator was used, not new. USAU did not appeal this ruling, so we need not address it here. 

[3] Thus, this appeal concerns the proper construction of

the first trigger date described in section 2(a)(1)(A). Specifically, USAU contends that the “date of delivery of the aircraft” mentioned in section 2(a)(1)(A) refers to the date of

delivery of the accident aircraft in December 1991. If this is

correct, then the period of repose would not have expired yet

at the time of the accident, permitting this civil action to proceed. We hold that the statute is ambiguous as to whether

“aircraft” refers only to the indivisible delivered plane, or

whether it also includes by reference the component parts of

the plane. However, our analysis of the legislative history

reveals that Congress intended for the latter definition to

apply. Thus, under these circumstances, the “date of delivery

of the aircraft” points to the delivery date of the actuator to

its first purchaser.

I. Text of GARA § 2(a)

In the task of statutory interpretation, “our purpose is

always to discern the intent of Congress.” Amalgamated

Transit Union Local 1309, AFL-CIO v. Laidlaw Transit

Servs., Inc., 435 F.3d 1140, 1146 (9th Cir. 2006) (order). We

begin with the language of the statute. See United States v.

2The first trigger date may also begin on “the date of the first delivery

of the aircraft to a person engaged in the business of selling or leasing

such aircraft.” GARA § 2(a)(1)(B). However, this provision does not

apply to this case. 

11970 UNITED STATES AVIATION UNDERWRITERS v. NABTESCO
Ron Pair Enters., Inc., 489 U.S. 235, 241 (1989). As we have

explained: 

To determine the plain meaning of a statutory provision, we examine not only the specific provision at

issue, but also the structure of the statute as a whole,

including its object and policy. If ambiguity exists,

we may use legislative history as an aid to interpretation. 

Levi Strauss & Co. v. Abercrombie & Fitch Trading Co., 633

F.3d 1158, 1171 (9th Cir. 2011) (citations omitted); see also

K Mart Corp. v. Cartier, Inc., 486 U.S. 281, 291 (1988) (“In

ascertaining the plain meaning of [a] statute, the court must

look to the particular statutory language at issue, as well as

the language and design of the statute as a whole.”). 

Here, the pertinent language reads as follows: “[N]o civil

action for damages . . . arising out of an accident involving

a general aviation aircraft may be brought against the manufacturer of the aircraft . . . if the accident occurred — (1) after

the applicable limitation period beginning on — (A) the date

of delivery of the aircraft to its first purchaser or lessee[.]”

GARA § 2(a)(1)(A).

[4] We hold that the “date of the delivery of the aircraft”

in § 2(1)(A) refers to the accident aircraft, including its constituent parts. This “date of delivery” is not necessarily a single date but can encompass different dates for the various

component parts of the aircraft depending on when the parts

were installed and whether those parts were new or used at

the time of installation. 

USAU presumes without explanation that the term “aircraft” means only the indivisible finished plane and not its

constituent parts. Thus, given that “the aircraft” refers to the

accident aircraft, USAU maintains that the limitation period

commenced upon the delivery date of the completed Cessna

UNITED STATES AVIATION UNDERWRITERS v. NABTESCO 11971
560 in December 1991. If this is correct, the period of repose

would not have expired yet at the time of the accident. Moreover, under USAU’s formulation, GARA does not even protect Nabtesco because it was neither the “manufacturer of the

[accident] aircraft” nor the “manufacturer of any new component . . . part of the aircraft,” but rather the manufacturer of

a used component part. GARA § 2(a). In other words, under

this narrow definition of “aircraft,” GARA would provide a

statute of repose to manufacturers of whole aircrafts and new

component parts, but not used component parts. 

[5] We emphasize, however, that this atomistic definition

of “aircraft” is not compelled by the plain meaning of the statute. As an initial matter, the “language and design of the statute as a whole,” K Mart, 486 U.S. at 291, conflict with

USAU’s approach. For example, this interpretation is incompatible with another section of the statute, which defines the

“limitation period” to mean “18 years with respect to general

aviation aircraft and the components, systems, subassemblies,

and other parts of such aircraft.” GARA § 3(3). The absence

of any qualifying clause evinces Congress’s intent that

GARA’s period of repose should apply with equal force to all

the component parts of an aircraft involved in an accident,

regardless of whether they were new or used when installed.

Further, the object and policy of the statute militate against

the notion that Congress intended for the statute of repose to

extend to manufacturers of whole aircrafts and new parts, but

not used parts. As we have recognized previously, Congress

enacted GARA because it was “deeply concerned about the

enormous product liability costs suffered by manufacturers.”

Blazevska, 522 F.3d at 951 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). It feared that “manufacturers were being driven

to the wall because . . . of the long tail of liability attached to

those aircraft, which could be used for decades after they

were first manufactured and sold.” Lyon, 252 F.3d at 1084

(citation omitted). Thus, the purpose behind enacting GARA

— to relieve manufacturers’ burdens of liability costs over a

11972 UNITED STATES AVIATION UNDERWRITERS v. NABTESCO
long period of time — applies equally well to the manufacturers of general aviation aircraft as to the manufacturers of the

parts therein, used or new. In light of this objective, it is

highly unlikely that Congress intended for the statute of

repose to protect all manufacturers except those of used parts.

On the contrary, it is far more likely that Congress meant

what it said when it defined the limitation period to embrace

general aviation aircraft and all their component parts.

Because USAU’s interpretation would frustrate this purpose,

we are reluctant to adopt its narrow definition of “aircraft.”

In fact, nothing in the statute suggests that “aircraft” must

mean only the indivisible assembled product. GARA defines

“aircraft” in broad terms to encompass “any contrivance

invented, used, or designed to navigate, or fly in, the air.”

GARA § 3(1) (citing 49 U.S.C. § 40102(a)(6)). The statute is

silent as to whether an “aircraft” includes its constituent parts.

It stands to reason, though, that the manufacturer of the

engine or cockpit is as much a “manufacturer of the aircraft”

as the maker of the wings or the rudder. If there is any distinction among them, the statute does not say so. Thus, it is more

natural to construe “the aircraft” to mean the aircraft including its component parts. 

[6] Moreover, this broader definition comports with the

language and design of the statute as a whole. Applying this

construction, section 2(a) extends GARA’s statute of repose

to “the manufacturer of the [accident] aircraft,” including the

manufacturer of any of its component parts, used or new.

First, this effectuates Congress’s goal of protecting all manufacturers from the burdens of protracted liability. Second,

interpreting “aircraft” broadly in section 2(a) gives proper

effect to section 3(3), which expressly defines the limitation

period to cover aircraft and all their component parts. By

adopting a construction of “aircraft” that hews to the statutory

definition, reflects the statutory language as a whole, and promotes the intent of Congress, we best fulfill our charge “to

understand the statute ‘as a symmetrical and coherent regulaUNITED STATES AVIATION UNDERWRITERS v. NABTESCO 11973
tory scheme’ and to ‘fit, if possible, all parts into a . . . harmonious whole.’ ” Am. Bankers Ass’n v. Gould, 412 F.3d 1081,

1086 (9th Cir. 2005) (quoting Food & Drug Admin. v. Brown

& Williamson Tobacco Corp., 529 U.S. 120, 133 (2000)). 

We realize, however, that this interpretation is not unassailable. For example, if Congress meant the term “aircraft” to

include its component parts, then the statute appears to be

redundant when it defines the limitation period “with respect

to general aviation aircraft and the components, systems, subassemblies, and other parts of such aircraft.” GARA § 3(3)

(emphasis added). Be that as it may, this construction is still

preferable in that it avoids the disjointed reading of section

2(a) advocated by Nabtesco, while giving much fuller consideration to section 3(3) than USAU’s interpretation affords. As

such, we have no difficulty concluding that this interpretation

is as reasonable as any. Thus, at a minimum, we may safely

conclude that the statute is ambiguous as to how to construe

“the aircraft” in section 2(a)(1)(A). “Where [a statute’s] language is not dispositive, we look to the congressional intent

revealed in the history and purposes of the statutory scheme.”

See United States v. Buckland, 289 F.3d 558, 565 (9th Cir.

2002) (en banc) (amended) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

II. GARA’s Legislative History

Our examination of the legislative history confirms our

interpretation that the term “the aircraft” in section 2(a)(1)(A)

refers to the accident aircraft including any component parts.

As we explained above, Congress enacted GARA to alleviate

“the problem of excessive liability costs for general aviation

aircraft manufacturers.” H.R. Rep. No. 103-525, pt. I (1994),

reprinted in 1994 U.S.C.C.A.N. 1638, 1994 WL 235994. In

so doing, Congress made plain that the statute of repose was

designed to protect manufacturers of aircraft and of component parts alike. Indeed, every Congressional report in the legislative record expresses this intent.

11974 UNITED STATES AVIATION UNDERWRITERS v. NABTESCO
For instance, in recommending passage of S. 1458, the bill

that would become GARA, the Senate Commerce, Science,

and Transportation Committee issued a report in which it

described the problem of high liability costs facing manufacturers. It then explained that “[t]he reported bill responds to

this problem by enacting a statute of repose for aircraft and

component manufacturers.” S. Rep. No. 103-202 (1993),

1993 WL 484770 at *3-4 (emphasis added). 

Similarly, when the House Public Works and Transportation Committee next recommended passage of S. 1458, it

explained the Act as follows:

Under this provision, no civil action can be brought

against a manufacturer for damages for death or

injury arising out of an accident involving at [sic]

general aviation aircraft more than 18 years after the

aircraft is first delivered to a purchaser. The statute

also applies to manufacturers of parts or components used in general aviation aircraft. 

H.R. Rep. No. 103-525, pt. I (1994), reprinted in 1994

U.S.C.C.A.N. 1638, 1994 WL 235994 (emphasis added). 

On the heels of the report above, the House Judiciary Committee also voiced its support of the bill, albeit with an

amendment that principally provided for tiered limitation

periods depending on the type of engine installed in the accident aircraft. H.R. Rep. 103-525(II) (June 24, 1994), reprinted

in 1994 U.S.C.C.A.N. 1644, 1994 WL 422719. At bottom, the

Judiciary Committee shared the understanding that GARA

would protect manufacturers of the aircraft’s component

parts:

In essence, the bill acknowledges that, for those general aviation aircraft and component parts in service

beyond the statute of repose, any design or manufacturing defect not prevented or identified by the FedUNITED STATES AVIATION UNDERWRITERS v. NABTESCO 11975
eral regulatory process by then should, in most

instances, have manifested itself. The bill thus makes

clear that, once a general aviation aircraft or component part crosses the specified age threshold, and

unless one of the specified exceptions applies, the

possibility of any act or omission on the part of its

manufacturer in its capacity as a manufacturer —

including any defect in the aircraft or component

part — ceases to be material or admissible in any

civil action . . . . 

H.R. Rep. 103-525, pt. II (1994), reprinted in 1994

U.S.C.C.A.N. 1644, 1994 WL 422719 (emphasis added). 

Furthermore, contemporaneous statements by members of

Congress bolster the conclusion that Congress intended the

statute of repose to apply to manufacturers of used component

parts.3 For example, Representative Glickman, the chief sponsor of the legislation, expressly noted that component parts

“are covered under the bill.” 140 Cong. Rec. H4998, H5001

(daily ed. June 27, 1994). The Congressman elaborated that

component parts are bound by the same limitation period as

the aircraft on which they were first installed, such that “a

used propeller which has 3 years left on its applicable limitation period would still have only 3 years if installed in its used

condition[.]” Id. 

Moreover, upon signing GARA into law, President Clinton

stated that GARA “is intended to give manufacturers of general aviation aircraft and related component parts some protection from lawsuits alleging defective design or

manufacture after an aircraft has established a lengthy record

3While comments by legislators are generally less authoritative than

official committee reports, see In re Kelly, 841 F.2d 908, 912 n.3 (9th Cir.

1988), they nonetheless may be persuasive authority, see Fed. Election

Comm’n v. Sailors’ Union of Pac. Political Fund, 828 F.2d 502, 506-507

(9th Cir. 1987). 

11976 UNITED STATES AVIATION UNDERWRITERS v. NABTESCO
of operational safety . . . The Act establishes an 18-year statute of repose for general aviation aircraft and component

parts beyond which the manufacturer will not be liable in

lawsuits alleging defective manufacture or design.” Statement

by President Clinton, reprinted in 1994 U.S.C.C.A.N. 1654,

1994 WL 542760 at *1 (Aug. 17, 1994) (emphasis added).

Like the legislative history before it, the President’s statement

cuts against the notion that Congress intended to protect manufacturers of aircraft and new component parts, but not manufacturers of used component parts.

Undeterred, USAU contends that the legislative history

supports the opposite inference. Appellant seizes on a oneword alteration between the original Senate bill, which

extended the statute of repose to “the manufacturer of any

component . . . part of the aircraft,” see S. Rep. No. 103-202

(1993), 1993 WL 484770 at *6-7, and the final legislation,

which reads, “the manufacturer of any new component . . .

part of the aircraft.” GARA §§ 2(a), 2(a)(2). In USAU’s view,

this emendation reflects Congress’s intent that the statute of

repose should not cover the manufacturers of used component

parts. 

This argument unravels, however, when examined in the

context of the legislative record accompanying the amendment in question. The House Judiciary Committee issued its

official report on June 24, 1994, to introduce and explain this

amendment, and conspicuously absent from the document is

any suggestion that the committee’s purpose was to exclude

a particular subset of manufacturers. H.R. Rep. 103-525, pt.

II (June 24, 1994), reprinted in 1994 U.S.C.C.A.N. 1644,

1994 WL 422719. Rather, the report explains the “any new

component” provision in this way:

Section 2(a)(2) specifies that the applicable statute of

repose with regard to component parts runs from the

date of the completion of the replacement or addition

of the component. The statute of repose for compoUNITED STATES AVIATION UNDERWRITERS v. NABTESCO 11977
nent parts applies on a “rolling” basis. For example,

if the original piston engine is replaced, the new piston engine would have a 15-year statute of repose

commencing with its replacement.

Id. Three days after the report was issued, Representative

Glickman clarified that “a used propeller which has 3 years

left on its applicable limitation period would still have only

3 years if installed in its used condition.” 140 Cong. Rec.

H4998, H5001 (daily ed. June 27, 1994). Viewed in context,

Congress’s reasons for adding the word “new” are plain: it

wished to ensure that the “rolling” period of repose could only

be triggered by the replacement or addition of a new component part, as opposed to a used component part. Without this

amendment, the replacement or addition of any used component part would have reset the rolling limitation period under

§ 2(a)(2), thus exposing the part manufacturer to a whole new

period of liability. In short, USAU’s argument proves exactly

the opposite of what it claims: by adding the word “new,”

Congress reified the principle that the applicable limitation

period for a used component part is permanently linked to the

delivery date of that component part to its first purchaser. 

[7] In sum, the legislative history reassures us that Congress intended for the statute of repose in GARA to extend to

manufacturers of used component parts in the accident aircraft. Consistent with this purpose, we interpret “the aircraft”

to mean the accident aircraft or its component parts. Accordingly, where, as here, the damage arises from an allegedly

defective used component part, the applicable limitation

period commences with the delivery date of the used part to

its first purchaser. GARA § 2(a)(1)(A). 

[8] Applying this construction, Nabtesco was a manufacturer of the accident aircraft or its component parts because it

manufactured the nose landing gear actuator in the Cessna

560. GARA § 2(a). Thus, GARA applies to Nabtesco. It also

follows that the applicable limitation period began on the date

11978 UNITED STATES AVIATION UNDERWRITERS v. NABTESCO
of delivery of Actuator 339 to its first purchaser in October

1990, more than eighteen years before the accident. GARA

§ 2(a)(1)(A). Because the accident occurred after the statute

of repose had run, USAU’s claim is barred and the district

court properly granted summary judgment to Nabtesco.

CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, we AFFIRM the district court’s

final judgment.

AFFIRMED.

UNITED STATES AVIATION UNDERWRITERS v. NABTESCO 11979