S.1458 - General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994
General Aviation Revitalization Act (GARA) became part of
public law August 17, 1994. The bill was introduced by Senator Nancy Kassebaum
of Kansas and signed in to law by President Bill Clinton. The purpose of the
bill was to set a statute of limitations on civil actions taken against
aircraft manufacturers, as well as parts manufacturers. It would have a “Limitation
period” of 18 years after manufacture of the aircraft or parts to bring civil
action if the aircraft is involved in an accident. It also limits to aircraft
that can seat fewer than 20 passengers.
At the time the bill
was written, most general aviation aircraft were more than 18 years old. With
this bill, some aircraft manufacturers would not be liable for most of the
aircraft that they had produced.
Therefore, anyone injured in an aircraft that was 18 years or older, and
was limited to no more than 20 passenger seats, would not have a legal case
against the manufacturer, even in the case of defect. Passengers on aircraft
that are flying for hire in a scheduled or routine flight are still able to
bring legal action against manufacturers. (2010, Danko)
One argument for this law was that aircraft were being
modified multiple times and on the third or more owner at the time
of the accident. Another was that the manufacturers would be inundating the
market with more piston aircraft at a more reasonable price. However, after the
bill was passed, most manufacturers did not increase production on pistons,
instead they started manufacturing turbine aircraft. Turbine aircraft are
manufactured at a much slower pace than piston aircraft and were a lot more
profitable. According to Mike Danko with Aviation Law monitor by 2025 the
average aircraft will be 50 years old.
I believe that with Automatic Dependent Surveillance –
Broadcast (ADS-B) equipment mandate that takes effect January 1, 2020, there
will be a number of aircraft owners that will not want to spend the money on an
expensive avionics package for an older aircraft. We may see several older
aircraft drop out of service.
S.1458 - General
Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994. Retrieved from https://www.congress.gov/bill/103rd-congress/senate-bill/1458
Danko, Mike. (2010, April 27). Aviation Law Monitor. GARA Covers an Increasing Percentage of the
General Aviation Fleet. Retrieved from https://www.aviationlawmonitor.com/tags/gara/
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