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Brooks v. Beech Aircraft Corp.6/28/1995
affirmed the entry of summary judgment, holding, in part, that the plaintiffs had not responded with sufficient evidence of negligence . Id. at 448. Here, if strict liability were not applicable, Brooks nonetheless presented evidence sufficient to establish a prima facie case that Beech was negligent. Brooks' expert, Dr. Snyder, testified that he had considered the state of the art in 1968 when Mr. Brooks' plane was designed and manufactured, had determined that shoulder harnesses were available, and had determined that Beech had installed shoulder harnesses as standard equipment on some of its planes prior to the construction of Mr. Brooks' plane. On this basis he expressed the opinion that the Musketeer was not crashworthy without shoulder harnesses and that Beech was negligent. Because Dr. Snyder's opinion was based on technology available at the time Mr. Brooks' plane was designed, a jury reasonably could conclude that Beech was indeed negligent. Hence summary judgment was improper on Brooks' negligence claim.
Conclusion. Because recognition of design-defect claims sounding in strict products liability would further the policy considerations that prompted this Court to adopt the doctrine in Stang v. Hertz Corp. , we overrule Duran v. General Motors Corp. and hold that plaintiffs may pursue design-defect claims sounding in strict liability. Further, we hold that design-defect claims may be proved without showing that the manufacturer's design violated any applicable regulations, codes, or standards. The judgment of the trial court is therefore reversed and this cause remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
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