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Brooks v. Beech Aircraft Corp.6/28/1995
As personal representative of her deceased husband, Virginia Brooks brought a wrongful death action against Beech Aircraft Corporation in connection with a 1988 plane crash. In relevant part Brooks sued in negligence and strict liability for an alleged design defect, claiming that the absence of shoulder harnesses caused the death of Thomas Brooks. The trial court granted Beech Aircraft's motion for summary judgment and Brooks appeals pursuant to SCRA 1986, 12-102(A)(1) (Repl. Pamp. 1992) (warranty count sounding in contract). We hold that a design-defect claim may be brought in both negligence and strict liability, and we further hold that such claim may be proved without showing that the manufacturer has violated regulations, codes, or standards applicable to the 1968 plane that crashed. Finding disputed issues of material fact precluding summary judgment on the questions of negligence and unreasonable risk, we reverse and remand.
Facts and proceedings. Thomas Brooks died on August 2, 1988, when the 1968 Beech Musketeer he was piloting crashed near Cimarron, New Mexico. Mr. Brooks bought his Musketeer used in 1984. Although his plane was equipped with lap belts, it was neither designed nor equipped with shoulder harnesses. When the Musketeer was designed, manufactured, and sold in 1968, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations did not require the installation of shoulder harnesses in "general aviation" aircraft such as the Musketeer. Further, no aircraft industry standard or guideline applicable at that time required the installation of such harnesses. The FAA did not adopt a regulation requiring the installation of shoulder harnesses in the front seats of general aviation aircraft until 1977, and this regulation applied only to planes manufactured after July 18, 1978. At no time did the FAA require manufacturers to install shoulder harnesses in older planes.
Brooks filed suit in 1990, claiming that a defect in the Musketeer's engine had caused her husband's plane to crash. She also claimed that the absence of shoulder harnesses rendered the plane not crashworthy and that, while not causing her husband's plane to crash, the absence of shoulder harnesses proximately caused enhanced injury resulting in her husband's death. At the close of discovery Beech moved for summary judgment on all of Brooks' claims.
In response to the motion for summary judgment, Brooks presented the deposition of Dr. Richard G. Snyder, a forensic anthropologist who testified that Beech Aircraft had developed a workable shoulder harness as early as 1951. Dr. Snyder also testified that Beech had included shoulder restraints as standard equipment on some of its aircraft before 1968. Finally, stating that he had considered the "state of the art" in 1968 and that he had determined shoulder harnesses were available when Mr. Brooks' plane was designed and manufactured, Dr. Snyder expressed the opinion that the Musketeer was not crashworthy without shoulder harnesses and that Beech was negligent not to include harnesses in the Musketeer's design.
The trial court entered summary judgment in favor of Beech on Brooks' warranty claims, claims of misrepresentation under Restatement (Second) of Torts ยง 402B (1964), and on Brooks' claim that an engine defect caused her husband's plane to crash. Brooks does not challenge these judgments on appeal. The trial court also concluded that enhanced-injury claims sound only in negligence and that negligence in design must be proved by showing the product violated the government regulations or industry standards applicable at the time of design, relying for support on ), cert. quashed , 101 N.M. 555, 685 P.2d 963 (1984). Because the undis
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