"Court Action Misrepresents Safety Measures, Certification Process"

ANN's stories about the recent legal attacks against Van's Aircraft and FloScan has kept our phone ringing and the email jammed for many hours now... but we're pleased to see EAA come out swinging as well. The outrage being expressed by the Aero-Verse has been considerable.

EAA notes that, "This week’s $35 million lawsuit filed against Van’s Aircraft and a Washington transducer manufacturer has caused a big stir in the aviation and homebuilt community, but is a false reflection of the safety and integrity of homebuilt aircraft, according to EAA’s vice president of advocacy and safety.

The lawsuit, officially filed October 14 in Oregon, arises from a May 2014 accident involving an RV-10 in Oregon where two people died and one was injured. The legal action claims that Van’s and transducer manufacturer FloScan were negligent in connection with an accident. Further, the suit claims that the FAA experimental amateur-built regulations are a “loophole” to provide substandard products.

“Any aircraft accident that leads to loss of life or injury is a tragedy, and our thoughts are with those families involved,” said Sean Elliott, EAA’s vice president of advocacy and safety who has flown and trained pilots in aircraft ranging from homebuilts to World War II-era bombers.

“However, the demands and tone of this suit are nothing short of parasitical. Just as one auto accident does not provide a basis to question automotive engineering in its entirety, this accident cannot be used to measure the value and integrity of the homebuilt aircraft industry. Lawsuits that challenge the industry as a whole do nothing to advance aviation safety. The history of safety and innovation by Van’s and other established homebuilt aircraft designers speak for themselves, as thousands of their aircraft have flown hundreds of thousands of safe flight hours.”

EAA supports the extensive testing performed by Van’s and other similar companies with established models such as the RV series."

EAA also notes that this suit could have implications throughout the homebuilt community.

ANN has received some fascinating information today about certain aspects of this case as well as some details about the firm that is attacking Van's and FloScan... we're researching it all now for a future update.

FMI: ANN Readers--What Say You???, www.eaa.org, Lawsuit, NTSB Factual Report, NTSB Probable Cause Report