Union Calendar No. 311

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1458

[Report No. 103–525, Parts I and II]

AN ACT

To amend the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to espurposes. against aircraft manufacturers, and for other tablish time limitations on certain civil actions

JUNE 24, 1994

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Commitordered to be printed tee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and
IB

Union Calendar No. 311

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1458

[Report No. 103–525, Parts I and II]

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 18, 1994

Referred jointly to the Committees on the Judiciary and Public Works and

Transportation

MAY 24, 1994

Reported from the Committee on Public Works and Transportation

JUNE 24, 1994

Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and

ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

AN ACT

To amend the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to establish

time limitations on certain civil actions against aircraft

manufacturers, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘General Aviation Revi3 talization Act of 1994’’.

4 SEC. 2. TIME LIMITATION ON CIVIL ACTIONS AGAINST AIR5 CRAFT MANUFACTURERS.

6 Title XI of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 (49

7 U.S.C. App. 1510–1518) is amended by adding at the end

8 the following new section:

9 ‘‘SEC. 1119. TIME LIMITATION ON CIVIL ACTIONS AGAINST

10 AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURERS.

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection

12 (b) of this section, no civil action for damages for death

13 or injury to persons or damage to property arising out

14 of an accident involving a general aviation aircraft may

15 be brought against the manufacturer of the aircraft or the

16 manufacturer of any component, system, subassembly, or

17 other part of the aircraft, if the accident occurred—

18 ‘‘(1) more than 18 years after—

19 ‘‘(A) the date of delivery of the aircraft to

20 its first purchaser or lessee, if delivered directly

21 from the manufacturer; or

22 ‘‘(B) the date of first delivery of the air23 craft to a person engaged in the business of

24 selling or leasing such aircraft; or

25 ‘‘(2) with respect to any component, system,

26 subassembly, or other part which replaced another
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1 product originally in, or which was added to, the air2 craft, and which is alleged to have caused the claim3 ant’s damages, more than 18 years after the date of

4 the replacement or addition.

5 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.—Subsection (a) of this section

6 does not apply—

7 ‘‘(1) if the claimant pleads with specificity the

8 facts necessary to prove, and proves by clear and

9 convincing evidence that the manufacturer with re10 spect to certification or obligations with respect to

11 continuing airworthiness of an aircraft or aircraft

12 component knowingly misrepresented to the FAA, or

13 concealed or withheld from the FAA, required infor14 mation that is material and relevant to the perform15 ance or the maintenance or operation of such air16 craft or component that is causally related to the

17 harm which the claimant allegedly suffered;

18 ‘‘(2) if the person for whose injury or death the

19 claim is being made is a passenger for purposes of

20 receiving treatment for a medical or other emer21 gency; or

22 ‘‘(3) if the person for whose injury or death the

23 claim is being made was not aboard the aircraft at

24 the time of the accident.
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1 ‘‘(c) GENERAL AVIATION AIRCRAFT DEFINED.—For

2 the purposes of this section, the term ‘general aviation air3 craft’ means any aircraft for which a type certificate or

4 an airworthiness certificate has been issued by the Admin5 istrator, which, at the time such certificate was originally

6 issued, had a maximum seating capacity of fewer than 20

7 passengers, and which was not, at the time of the accident,

8 engaged in scheduled passenger carrying operations as de9 fined under regulations issued under this Act.

10 ‘‘(d) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.—This section

11 supersedes any Federal or State law to the extent that

12 such law permits a civil action described in subsection (a)

13 to be brought after the applicable deadline for such civil

14 action established by subsection (a).’’.

15 SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENT.

16 The table of contents contained in the first section

17 of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 is amended by adding

18 at the end of the matter relating to title XI of such Act

19 the following:

‘‘Sec. 1119. Time Limitation on Civil Actions Against Aircraft Manufacturers.

‘‘(a) In general.

‘‘(b) Exceptions.

‘‘(c) General aviation aircraft defined.

‘‘(d) Relationship to other laws.’’.

20 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

21 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘General Aviation Revi22 talization Act of 1994’’.
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1 SEC. 2. TIME LIMITATIONS ON CIVIL ACTIONS AGAINST AIR2 CRAFT MANUFACTURERS.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection

4 (b), no civil action for damages for death or injury to per5 sons or damage to property arising out of an accident in6 volving a general aviation aircraft may be brought against

7 the manufacturer of the aircraft or the manufacturer of any

8 new component, system, subassembly, or other part of the

9 aircraft, in its capacity as a manufacturer if the accident

10 occurred—

11 (1) after the applicable limitation period begin12 ning on—

13 (A) the date of delivery of the aircraft to its

14 first purchaser or lessee, if delivered directly

15 from the manufacturer; or

16 (B) the date of first delivery of the aircraft

17 to a person engaged in the business of selling or

18 leasing such aircraft; or

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

20 subassembly, or other part which replaced another

21 component, system, subassembly, or other part origi22 nally in, or which was added to, the aircraft, and

23 which is alleged to have caused such death, injury, or

24 damage, after the applicable limitation period begin25 ning on the date of completion of the replacement or

26 addition.
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1 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—Subsection (a) does not apply—

2 (1) if the claimant pleads with specificity the

3 facts necessary to prove, and proves, that the manu4 facturer with respect to a type certificate or air5 worthiness certificate for, or obligations with respect

6 to continuing airworthiness of, an aircraft or a com7 ponent, system, subassembly, or other part of an air8 craft knowingly misrepresented to the Federal Avia9 tion Administration, or concealed or withheld from

10 the Federal Aviation Administration, required infor11 mation that is material and relevant to the perform12 ance or the maintenance or operation of such aircraft,

13 or the component, system, subassembly, or other part,

14 that is causally related to the harm which the claim15 ant allegedly suffered;

16 (2) if the person for whose injury or death the

17 claim is being made is a passenger for purposes of re18 ceiving treatment for a medical or other emergency;

19 (3) if the person for whose injury or death the

20 claim is being made was not aboard the aircraft at

21 the time of the accident; or

22 (4) to an action brought under a written war23 ranty enforceable under law but for the operation of

24 this Act.
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1 (c) GENERAL AVIATION AIRCRAFT DEFINED.—For the

2 purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘general aviation aircraft’’

3 means any aircraft for which a type certificate or an air4 worthiness certificate has been issued by the Administrator

5 of the Federal Aviation Administration, which, at the time

6 such certificate was originally issued, had a maximum seat7 ing capacity of fewer than 20 passengers, and which was

8 not, at the time of the accident, engaged in scheduled pas9 senger-carrying operations as defined under regulations in

10 effect under the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 (49 U.S.C.

11 App. 1301 et seq.) at the time of the accident.

12 (d) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.—This section su13 persedes any State law to the extent that such law permits

14 a civil action described in subsection (a) to be brought after

15 the applicable limitation period for such civil action estab16 lished by subsection (a).

17 SEC. 3. OTHER DEFINITIONS.

18 For purposes of this Act—

19 (1) the term ‘‘aircraft’’ has the meaning given

20 such term in section 101(5) of the Federal Aviation

21 Act of 1958 (49 U.S.C. 1301(5));

22 (2) the term ‘‘airworthiness certificate’’ means

23 an airworthiness certificate issued under section

24 603(c) of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 (49 U.S.C.

25 1423(c)) or under any predecessor Federal statute;
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1 (3) the term ‘‘limitation period’’ means—

2 (A) 15 years with respect to piston-powered

3 general aviation aircraft and the components,

4 systems, subassemblies, and other parts of such

5 aircraft;

6 (B) 18 years with respect to turboprop-pow7 ered general aviation aircraft and the compo8 nents, systems, subassemblies, and other parts of

9 such aircraft; and

10 (C) 22 years with respect to other general

11 aviation aircraft (including jet-powered general

12 aviation aircraft) and the components, systems,

13 subassemblies, and other parts of such aircraft;

14 and

15 (4) the term ‘‘type certificate’’ means a type cer16 tificate issued under section 603(a) of the Federal

17 Aviation Act of 1958 (49 U.S.C. 1423(a)) or under

18 any predecessor Federal statute.

19 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION OF ACT.

20 (a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Except as provided in sub21 section (b), this Act shall take effect on the date of the enact22 ment of this Act.
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1 (b) APPLICATION OF ACT.—This Act shall not apply

2 with respect to civil actions commenced before the date of

3 the enactment of this Act.

Passed the Senate March 16 (legislative day, February 22), 1994.

Attest: WALTER J. STEWART,

Secretary.