Research On The Role Of Aircraft Airworthiness Standards In Determining Aviation Product Liability

No product can be guaranteed to be free from defects,even if it adopts strict industrial production and manufacturing standards,so do aviation products.In product liability litigation,whether there are defects in the product is the first issue to be identified,which is the basis for assuming product liability.Compared with common products,the particularity of aviation products lies in that the whole life cycle from design,manufacture,use,maintenance to retirement is controlled by strict airworthiness standards,which are indicators to measure the safety of aviation products.Whether aviation products conform to airworthiness standards is a technical issue,but whether airworthiness standards can be used as the basis for judging aviation product defects is a legal issue in product liability litigation.Different answers to this question will affect the value balance between consumer protection and the development of the aviation industry in the responsibility of aviation products.The definition of defects in China's product liability law adopts subjective and objective double standards.Although airworthiness standards do not formally belong to the objective standards for determining defects in aviation products,they actually play the role of objective standards.The United States is a large country in aviation transportation and aviation industry,and has accumulated a large number of judicial precedents related to aviation products in the process of product liability development.Judging from the liability litigation of aviation products in the United States,airworthiness standards are also relied on to judge defects in the determination of liability of aviation products.Because airworthiness standards are mainly stipulated inthe Federal Aviation Regulations(FAR),in order to avoid paying huge financial compensation,manufacturers are gradually using the application of federal laws preempt state laws to defend.As long as it is proved that aviation products meet airworthiness standards,they should be considered as free from defects.The court's approval or refusal of the defense determines whether the airworthiness standard can be used as the only standard for identifying the defects of aviation products.Some courts hold that federal laws preempt state laws in the field of aviation safety,so the airworthiness standards at the federal level should preempt the defect identification standards stipulated in the state product liability laws and become the only standards for the defect identification of aviation products.Some courts believe that product liability litigation has long been under the jurisdiction of the states themselves.Federal laws do not preempt state laws.State laws can provide stricter regulations on the safety of aviation products,so airworthiness standards should not be the only standards for the identification of defects in aviation products.At present,there is no absolute conclusion on the dispute between the two viewpoints,but the general trend is that airworthiness standards still play a role in determining the defects of aviation products,but are not the final basis for determining whether there are defects in aviation products.Around the role of airworthiness standards in the determination of product liability,American courts have formed a wealth of case law.Relevant judgment ideas and reasoning logic are of enlightening significance for us to understand the role of suitable navigation mark standards and to construct China's aviation product liability theory.Article 46 of the "Product Quality Law" should be applied to the determination of aviation product defects in our country.According to the relevant enlightenment of American airworthiness standards in the determination of aviation product liability,we should give full play to the role of airworthiness standards as objective standards in the determination of aviation product defects and improve the relevant provisions of our country's product liability law.