Burroughs

Plaintiffs suffered injuries in the crash of a light aircraft, allegedly due to a malfunction in the engine’s carburetor. Defendant is an aircraft parts manufacturer who did not manufacture or sell this particular model of carburetor but acquired the product line from a predecessor who had acquired it from the original manufacturer. The carburetor was manufactured and sold in 1968, over 25 years prior to the accident. A recent federal statute of repose (The General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994 (GARA), Pub.L. No. 103-298, 108 Stat. 1552, 49 U.S.C. § 40101 note) bars claims arising from accidents involving light aircraft brought against “the manufacturer of any new component ... or other part of the aircraft, in its capacity as a manufacturer” (Pub.L. No. 103-298, § 2(a), 108 Stat. 1552 ) more than 18 years after the product is first sold. The trial court in this case granted summary judgment against plaintiffs, finding that the federal statute barred their claims against defendant in its capacity as successor to the original manufacturer.

Two questions are presented in this appeal. Is defendant a “manufacturer” within the meaning of the federal statute? If the…