Mon, Jan 24, 2011
Could Lead To Easier Access To Antique Aircraft Plans
A nearly 9 year legal battle over a Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA) request which went all the way to the Supreme Court has
finally apparently been resolved, with the result being the
possible restoration of a rare Fairchild 45 aircraft.
According to the Antique Aircraft Association's website, an FOIA
request was filed in 2002 by association Executive Director Brent
Taylor for drawings and data associated with the 1930's era
four-place taildragger. But the FAA denied the request, saying he
had to obtain permission to copy the plans from the owner of the
original Type Certificate (TC). That company, Fairchild Aircraft,
has long since gone to its reward, and there is no record of the TC
being transferred to any other entity, according to an article
written by attorney Michael Pangia for the association.
After a unanimous decision in favor of Mr. Taylor in the U.S.
Supreme Court, the case was handed back to the U.S. District Court,
where Judge Ricardo M. Urbina ruled in favor of the association on
January 19th. According to the ruling:
- Once manufacturer authorized disclosure of its materials, they
were no longer secret for purposes of FOIA's trade secrets
exemption;
- Secret status of the materials was not restored when
manufacturer revoked its authorization to disclosure; and
- The materials were not commercially valuable, and, thus, did
not fall within FOIA's trade secrets exemption.
The association says on its blog that it hopes that the decision
will lead to easier access to such technical data on antique
aircraft in the future.
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