Opinion ID: 2461842
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Required Information

Text: ¶ 65 An FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) regulation defines required information as that which concerns (1) failures, malfunctions, or defects (2) in a product or part manufactured by the type certificate holder (3) that the type certificate holder has determined resulted in, or could result in, one of 13 serious occurrences. 14 C.F.R. § 21.3(a). [2] This requirement does not apply, however, to failures, malfunctions, or defects that were caused by improper maintenance, or improper usage, or that the type certificate holder [k]nows were reported to the FAA by another person under the Federal Aviation Regulations or that the type certificate holder [h]as already reported under the accident reporting provisions of Part 430 of the regulations of the National Transportation Safety Board [(NTSB)]. [3] 14 C.F.R. § 21.3(d)(1)(i), (ii), (iii). ¶ 66 The GARA § 2(b)(1) exception applies only where a manufacturer has failed to disclose required information. 14 C.F.R. § 21.3. Burton argues that Twin Commander failed to report or misrepresented to the FAA several events involving aircraft of the model line in question where there was rudder damage similar or identical to the rudder damage in the accidents that precipitated Alert Service Bulletin 235 (SB 235) and contributed to the accident in question here. ¶ 67 Specifically, Burton contends that Twin Commander failed to disclose rudder information related to (1) a 1970 crash involving a prototype of a predecessor to the 690C model (prototype crash); (2) the results of a 1979 flutter test by Twin Commander's predecessor type certificate holder, Gulfstream (flutter test report); (3) a 1982 crash in Arkansas in which the airplane's rudder horn assembly was never found (Arkansas crash); (4) a 1992 crash in Denver in which tearing of the rudder was observed (Denver crash); (5) four other cases of problems with the rudder cap (other cases); (6) a 2002 crash in Texas in which the rudder cap separated from the plane in flight (Texas crash); and (7) a 2003 crash in Georgia in which the rudder cap also separated from the plane during flight (Georgia crash). ¶ 68 In light of the evidence presented by Twin Commander, the Court of Appeals agreed Twin Commander had not concealed or misrepresented the existence of these various events or occurrences. Burton v. Twin Commander Aircraft, LLC, 148 Wash.App. 606, 626, 221 P.3d 290 (2009). It noted that in fact there is no dispute that each of the accidents [was] reported to the FAA. Id. at 627 n. 18, 221 P.3d 290. But, the Court of Appeals concluded there was no evidence Twin Commander had reported information concerning the 1992 accident in relation to the 2002 and 2003 crashes. Id. at 626, 221 P.3d 290. The Court of Appeals agreed with Burton that a trier of fact could find that, had the FAA known about similarities between the 1992, 2002, and 2003 crashes, SB 235 might have been drafted differently. In other words, the fact that Twin Commander failed to connect the dots between the various accidents for the FAA raised material issues of fact about whether Twin Commander knowingly misrepresented, or concealed, or withheld relevant and material information from the FAA in obtaining approval of SB 235. Id. at 627, 221 P.3d 290. ¶ 69 The similarities between the 1992, 2002, and 2003 incidents support an inference that the GARA § 2(b)(1) exception applies here. In an April 4, 2003 e-mail, Twin Commander's vice-president/general manager, Jeff Cousins, wrote that following the 2003 crash, Twin Commander began investigating all the records it had of aircraft in-flight breakups and found similarities between the 2002 and 2003 incidents and the 1992 Denver crash. Clerk's Papers (CP) at 4356. Although Twin Commander knew in 2003 that the NTSB had determined in 1993 that the 1992 crash was caused by pilot error and turbulence, the April 4, 2003 e-mail from Cousins suggests that Twin Commander's subsequent investigation raised concerns about whether there was a connection between the rudder damage in 1992, 2002, and 2003. Moreover, the fact that it then drafted a service bulletin regarding its fleet's rudder assembly suggests it believed there might be a problem with its rudder assembly that could contribute to accidents. ¶ 70 Contrary to the majority's view, the possible connection between the 1992, 2002, and 2003 rudder problems falls within the definition of information required to be reported under 14 C.F.R. § 21.3. That regulation reads in part: Except as provided in paragraph (d) of this section, the holder of a Type Certificate [...] shall report any failure, malfunction, or defect in any product, part, process, or article manufactured by it that it determines has resulted in any of the occurrences listed in paragraph (c) of this section. 14 C.F.R. § 21.3(a). The majority reads the it determines language as its own exception to the regulation's reporting requirements, reasoning that before a manufacturer's reporting obligation is triggered, it must engage in an investigation to determine whether the failure at issue caused one of the listed occurrences. Majority at 787-89. This is an unnatural reading of the regulation's plain language. 14 C.F.R. § 21.3 does not require that a type certificate holder determine the failure caused the stated occurrence before reporting it or that it determine what caused the failure, but rather that the failure did or could result in one of the occurrences listed. The determination contemplated in 14 C.F.R. § 21.3(a) is a very low threshold, far short of legal causation and one that the evidence suggests was met here. Cousins described the incidents involving the rudder apparatus as failures. CP at 4356. He stated that a rudder cap departed the aircraft and that the plane came apart in flight. Id. In other words, the failure of the rudder apparatus resulted in the plane literally breaking apart in flight. This encompasses at least one occurrence listed in 14 C.F.R. § 21.3(c)(11): [a]ny structural ... malfunction, defect, or failure which causes an interference with normal control of the aircraft for which derogates the flying qualities. The majority errs when it reads the determination language of 14 C.F.R. § 21.3(a) as requiring a cause and effect analysis on the part of the type certificate holder. Majority at 788-89. Twin Commander was not excused from the reporting requirements under 14 C.F.R. § 21.3(a). ¶ 71 The exceptions to the reporting requirement of 14 C.F.R. § 21.3 lie not in subsection (a), but in subsection (d). Likewise, the manufacturer's opportunity to investigate and conclude that information is not required under the C.F.R. arises in subsection (d), not subsection (a). But subsection (d) applies only where the manufacturer (i) has determined that the failures, malfunctions, or defects at issue were caused by improper maintenance or usage; (ii) knows they were reported to the FAA by another person pursuant to regulations, or (iii) has already reported them under a specific provision, Part 430 of the NTSB regulations, and Twin Commander cannot avail itself of these exceptions to the reporting requirement. ¶ 72 Critically, Twin Commander makes no attempt to show prior reporting by any other person or pursuant to NTSB Part 430 of the similarities between the 1992 crash and the 2002 and 2003 incidents that it found in its independent investigation following the 2003 accident. Twin Commander does argue that the information concerning the similarities between the 1992, 2002, and 2003 rudder damage is not required information because Twin Commander's causation determination excused it from the reporting obligation. But this argument is premised on a misapprehension of the causation provision. First, the language of the C.F.R. excuses reporting when the manufacturer has affirmatively determined the failure at issue was caused by improper maintenance or usage. Twin Commander concedes it had made no such determination at the time the April 4, 2003 e-mail was drafted. Suppl. Br. of Pet'r at 19. [4] Second, Twin Commander refers to the portion of GARA § 2(b)(1) that limits the information manufacturers must report to that which is causally related to the harm which the claimant allegedly suffered. GARA § 2(b)(1). This portion of GARA is unclear with respect to who makes the causal determination. Twin Commander argues that the manufacturer must determine[] itself that the incident was caused by the product defect. Br. of Resp'ts at 35-36 & n.8. Burton counters that causation is a question for the trier of fact unless it is undisputed that there was no relationship between the information withheld from the FAA and the accident. Suppl. Br. of Resp'ts at 15-16. Burton's view is supported by Butler v. Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc., 109 Cal.App.4th 1073, 135 Cal.Rptr.2d 762 (2003), in which the California Court of Appeals reasoned that the question under the statute is not what causal connection the manufacturer identified in deciding whether it was required to report to the FAA, but rather what the FAA would have done in response to the information that the plaintiff alleges the manufacturer failed to report. Id. at 1087-88, 135 Cal.Rptr.2d 762. ¶ 73 This makes sense. A manufacturer should not be able to avoid a question of fact on causation under GARA by simply citing to its own view of the matter. Here, though Twin Commander presented evidence that the causes of at least two accidents cited by Burton were either unknown or not caused by a faulty rudder assembly, CP at 1335; CP at 1361, Burton offered evidence, including expert testimony, disputing Twin Commander's evidence and supporting its view that the FAA would have acted more aggressively, including possibly grounding the accident aircraft, had it known the information it claims Twin Commander did not report. Suppl. Br. of Resp'ts at 14-15. Reasonable minds could differ as to whether the causation element was met, precluding summary judgment on this basis. ¶ 74 In sum, Twin Commander does not show it was exempt as a matter of law from disclosing to the FAA the information it had about the similarities between the 1992, 2002, and 2003 rudder damage. Other courts considering the question of required information have held that prior similar failures must be reported to the FAA. Butler, 109 Cal.App.4th at 1083, 135 Cal.Rptr.2d 762; Robinson v. Hartzell Propeller, Inc., 326 F.Supp.2d 631, 649-50 (E.D.Pa.2004). Butler and Robinson are distinguishable on their facts because the evidence of the defendants' alleged concealments was much more obvious than in this case, as the majority notes. Majority at 791-92. But to survive a summary judgment attack, a plaintiff needs only the reasonable inferences arising from the evidence presented, not irrefutable certainties. Such inferences can be drawn from the evidence presented here.