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Aviation History
1989
1989 - 2045.PDF
FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS, England EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES 01-661 3321 EDITORIAL FAX: 01-661 3840 DISPLAY ADVERTISING 01-661 3315 DISPLAY ADV. FAX: 01-661 3305 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING 01-661 6373 CLASSIFIED ADV. FAX: 01-642 4431 TELEX: 892084 REEDBP G EDITOR Allan Winn 01-661 3883 DEPUTY EDITOR Graham Warwick 01-661 8808 ASSISTANT EDITOR Tom Hamill 01-661 3096 OPERATIONS EDITOR Mike Gaines 01-661 8809 AIR TRANSPORT EDITOR David Learmount 01-661 3845 REPORTERS Eric Beech 01-661 3837 Kieran Daly 01-661 3836 Ian Dormer 01-661 3844 Ian Goold 01-661 3834 Alan Postlethwaite 01-661 3839 PRODUCTION EDITOR Philip Jarrett 01-661 3848 SUB EDITOR Stephen Spark 01-661 3847 ART EDITOR Colin Paine 01-661 3850 LAYOUT ARTIST Stephana Fenner 01-661 3850 PHOTOGRAPHER Janice Lowe 01-661 3836 TECHNICAL ARTISTS Paul Couper 01-661 8047 Ira Epton 01-661 8054 Tim Hall 01-661 8047 John Uarsden 01-661 8054 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF J. M Ramsden 01-661 3846 WASHINGTON BUREAU Julian Moxon (2021 547 2624 FAX (202) 547 5338 LOS ANGELES BUREAU John Bailey (714) 760 6618 • FAX (714) 760 6619 PARIS CORRESPONDENT Gilbert Sedbon (1) 4825 5261 ISRAEL CORRESPONDENT Arie Egozi 39671155 US WEST COAST CORRESPONDENT Norman Lynn (408) 778-0889 FAX (408) 778-9976 WEST GERMAN CORRESPONDENT Stefan Giesenheyner 061 21 526894 FAX 061 21 529779 SPACEFUGHT CORRESPONDENT Tim Furniss 02375 756 '•" FAX 02375 600 DISPLAY ADVERTISEMENT SALES MANAGER Clive Richardson 01-661 3315 VICE-PRESIDENT US SALES John Tidy (714) 756-1057 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENT SALES DEPARTMENT 01-661 3600 USA (212) 867 2080 ADVERTISEMENT PRODUCTION . Howard Mason 01-661 3267 For full advertisement sales Information see inside back page. SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER. A. Walden 0444 441212 SUBSCRIPTION ENQUIRIES Oakfield House, Perrymount Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 3DH England. BACK NUMBERS: Limited numbers of RECENT ISSUES ONLY are available at £1.50/copy (CASH WITH ORDER ONLY) from Flight International, Room L528, Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS. NEWSTRADE SALES ENQUIRIES to Quadrant Publishing Services, 01-661 3380. PUBLISHING DIRECTOR Murray Johnstone 01-661 8636 '--< Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation COMMENT Who is liable? When aviation was young, the goal was reliability. Now aviation is mature, the end result seems to be liability. If an aircraft crashes and causes damage or injury to passengers or to third parties or property, its manufacturer might well be sued by the injured parties. It is the possibility of such action—pursued with a zeal bordering on absurdity by the more litigious parts of American society—which has caused such disruption in light-aircraft manufacturing and marketing in the last few years. The threat of such action has kept Cessna out of piston-single manu facture for several years, and has forced Commander Aircraft to adopt a creative (if initially expensive) market ing and insurance approach to protect its relaunch of the old Rockwell/ Gulfstream Commander line. If an aircraft crashes and causes damage or injury to passengers or to third parties or prop erty, its flightcrew might well be sued by the injured parties or charged by the authorities. Such a threat has materialised in the case of the flightcrew of the Air France A320 which crashed last year at Mulhouse, where homicide involuntaire charges have been laid.- If an aircraft crashes and causes damage or injury to passengers or to third parties or prop erty, the owner or operator (or its insurance company) is likely to be sued for damages by the affected parties, and might even be charged by the relevant authority with breaches of aircraft operating rules and codes. So far, the operator has not been charged with more serious offences, such as manslaughter. Last week, however, the British Director of Public Prosecutions charged various members of staff and ex-staff of P & O Ferries—and the company itself—with manslaughter, in the wake of the sinking more than two years ago of the ferry Herald of Free Enterprise. Given the close relationship between maritime and Commercial liability is something which most aircrew, manufacturers, and operators acknowledge and accept aviation law in most parts of the world (the concept of "ships of the air" has been as appeal ing to legislators faced with a new means of transport as it has been to romantic writers), how long will it be before a corporate operator of an aircraft is charged with manslaughter? A staggeringly large claim from survivors, victims, or families is something which the aviation insurance world has come to expect, if not to accept, and its premiums and policies take such possibilities into account. The concept of the insured also being charged with man slaughter or some other crime against the person must send shivers down the Lloyds spine. A corporate body cannot, like an indi vidual crew mem ber, be imprisoned if found guilty—a sentence must be financial rather than custodial. The chances are, should such a charge ever be laid and succeed, that any fine would have a large punitive element to it. If airlines and their insurers must take such a possibility, however remote, into account, what effect will it have? Will insurance premiums rise, and be accompanied in their rise by airline fares? Will the small print on airline tickets, attempting to disclaim responsibility for just about every conceivable occurrence, become even more disclaiming? Will airline passengers have to sign even more-rigorous disclaimers before boarding, so that airlines feel safe enough to'fly them? Commercial liability is something which mostN aircrew, manufacturers, and operators acknowledge and accept at some level, whether it be in their responsibility to take reasonable care with passengers' lives, or simply to deliver an aircraft's or engine's performance to a guar anteed level. The industry's image of reliability has grown from that, and depends on that. The concept of criminal liability at a corporate level may change that acceptance—and not neces sarily for the good of the industry. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 1 July 1989 3
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