NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE
APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY
APPELLATE DIVISION
DOCKET NO. A-4596-08T2 4596-08T2
JANET FLETCHER, Individually
and as the Executrix of the
Estate of Lynn T. Fletcher,
Plaintiff-Respondent,
v.
CESSNA AIRCRAFT COMPANY,
Defendant-Appellant,
and
STATE OF NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT
OF TRANSPORTATION,
Defendant.
_____________________________________
Argued November 10, 2009 - Decided
Before Judges Wefing, Grall and Messano.
On appeal from Superior Court of New
Jersey, Law Division, Passaic County,
Docket No. L-924-07.
Jeffrey W. Moryan argued the cause for
appellant (Connell Foley, attorneys;
Mr. Moryan, of counsel and on the brief;
Christine I. Gannon and Neha Bansal,
on the brief).
James Fitzgerald argued the cause for
respondent (Friedman, Kates, Pearlman &
Fitzgerald, attorneys; Mr. Fitzgerald,
on the brief).
The opinion of the court was delivered by
GRALL, J.A.D.
On February 25, 2005, Lynn T. Fletcher was piloting his Cessna Model 182P and died in a crash on takeoff from Greenwood Lake Airport in West Milford, New Jersey. The National Transportation Safety Board has determined that the probable cause was an inadequate preflight inspection resulting in a total loss of engine power due to ice in the fuel system. The plane was manufactured in 1975 and delivered to its initial owner on April 11, 1975. This accident occurred nearly thirty years later. There is no evidence that defendant Cessna Aircraft Company (Cessna) serviced the aircraft, supplied a new part of any kind after delivery of the plane to the initial owner or provided any information to Fletcher after he purchased the aircraft from a prior owner in 1992.
Plaintiff Janet Fletcher, individually and as the executrix of her husband's estate, filed this suit alleging, among other things, that Cessna failed to warn about measures to prevent, correct and avoid a crash caused by ice in the aircraft's fuel system. The trial judge denied Cessna's motion for dismissal on summary judgment, and we granted Cessna leave to appeal.
Cessna claims that this action against it is barred by the General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994, 49 U.S.C.A.