Accidents
District Court Rejects Appeal of GARA-related Lawsuit
Plaintiffs argued that police aircraft are exempt from GARA statute of repose
Helicopter accident flight path
The flight path of the accident helicopter involved in the lawsuit © NTSB

On September 9, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit in which the plaintiffs asserted that the General Aviation Revitalization Act (GARA) statute of repose didn’t apply after the crash of a Huntington Beach (California) Police Department helicopter.

GARA was signed into law on Aug. 17, 1994, and barred most civil actions against manufacturers of general aviation aircraft and components brought more than 18 years after delivery. In this case, the plaintiffs claimed that the GARA excepted “public aircraft” that are owned or operated by the government. The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ruled that the GARA did apply in this accident and thus the claim against Boeing was rejected.