Old Planes, Begone!

By Steve Bill Hanshew

 

It’s going to get tougher and tougher to own and operate old certified airplanes. That isn’t a revelation to most of us who do. It’s about as plain as a pig’s nose. All we have to do is look over the raft of sweeping AD’s issued by manufacturers, or attempt to order a replacement part, to realize that such is the case.  

The latest Airworthiness Directory (AD) from Cessna concerning 400 series twins is yet another example of the manufacturer’s bias against their older products. This AD was not spawned by a spate of accidents that justified immediate action. There wasn’t a single crash where metal fatigue within the spar justified a comprehensive airworthiness effort. There was no resistance from the company to issuing it and no qualms with the FAA for writing it. In fact, the FAA funded the research necessary to write it based upon a projection. If you listen to the Feds you’ll get an idea of where all of this is going. “The General Aviation fleet is being used well beyond the flight hours and years envisioned when the airplanes were designed. These airplanes could develop serious age-related problems as they continue to be used well beyond their design life.”  * 

In a cozy collaboration the aircraft makers and the rule makers have met and decided that the aging GA fleet has got to go. Not unlike the quest within the commercial airliner fleet, a “star chamber” was formed in secret to devise a way to retire older air transports. On one hand GA owners and operators are outraged. Many Part 135 operators rely heavily on Cessna 402’s and 421’s to haul cancelled checks, small parcels, and the proverbial “bacon”. Cessna 400 series twins are real workhorses. A critical AD of this nature will financially cripple small operators flying freight for a living.

On the other hand the manufacturer is scared to death of the specter of “product liability” haunting them for the next 20 years, where a parade of trial lawyers appear from well-furnished crypts of Corinthian leather in a never ending series of tragic cases. All one has to do is review the Missouri Governor Mel Caranhan case and see where the legal snare lies. Cessna managed to dodge that one, thanks to the Statute of Repose at the expense of vacuum pump maker Parker Hannifin. The pilot, Randy Carnahan (Mel’s son), told ATC that he had lost a flight instrument (the attitude indicator). The Cessna 335, in the last few minutes of flight, pitched up, nearly rolled inverted, nosed over, and subsequently crashed killing all in the aircraft.

Speculation was that the pilot experienced spatial disorientation due to flying in low-IFR instigated by a possible instrument failure. The Cessna twin was running as designed right up to impact and Hannifin’s main and back-up pump was also working, proven by the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) testing. It was a tragic crash and it happens to Instrument pilots in such conditions under such strain. It was an accident. The jury still awarded Governor Carahan’s family $4 million out of a requested 10 million, at the expense of Parker Hannifin whose product was proven operational and not at fault.

It doesn’t take Perry Mason to realize that under the current litigious cloud hovering over companies who make things with moving parts, your chances of proving you’re not at fault are easier than changing sex. Juries don’t seem to be predisposed to facts, figures, and validated test results. To the jury the verdict “felt” like the “right” thing to do. Are Cessna 335’s and Parker pumps built any different after the accident than before? The answer is no. It’s a blame game and the pilot in this case, is exonerated. In that light, I can see why Cessna, Beechcraft, or Piper might be inclined to divorce themselves from a 20 plus year old product. Why wait for the inevitable – Be preemptive and end the madness now.

The question then becomes what choices do I have to replace this older airplane? Thanks to the Statute of Repose, which limits product liability to 18 years back and cushions Cessna from the courts, I have little recourse. Do I buy a perfectly maintained 1967 Cessna 182 with a brand new Garmin rack at 42K or buy a virtual clone 2000 Cessna 182 at $225,000? There is no difference since Cessna must manufacture literally the same plane in order to be covered by liability protection.  

In many cases, airplanes no longer in production pose the threat of the proverbial albatross strapped around your neck. Most of the companies would simply prefer that these old timers go away to some bone yard never to be flown again. Of course, lawyers forcing us to fly the equal products made in the 1970’s, by virtue of product liability, purposely stunt new lightplane construction. Cessna has no legal incentive to make a modern product. To improve the design and update it would be to admit fault, and like a bear trap snapping shut – here comes the lawyers.  

In no other segment of transportation, not even commercial airline evolution, does such a bizarre situation exist whereby a company is encouraged to re-make old airplanes. Under this logic, my new car purchase would still be a 1973 Olds Cutlass, albeit with a new car price sticker on the glass; No air bags, No electronic fuel injection, No anti-lock brakes and a simple lap belt.  

To be honest with you friends, I don’t see the Cessna name prominent in lightplane manufacturing 10 years from now. The money just isn’t there for them. They are a business and business jets are where the money is. Whether Beechcraft or Piper will follow suit and seek better streams of income, who knows? The innovation and aggressiveness that made Cessna the leader in single-engine aircraft when the revolutionary Airmaster arrived on the scene in 1934 is all but gone. 

Lawyers survive on “deep pockets”. Cessna and Beechcraft are just “big” enough to provide a lucrative target. Smaller companies who have little capital and don’t stand out in a crowd may fare better. As a private pilot, I can only hope that the innovators within the sport plane community such as RANs, Cirrus, and Glastar will pick up the banner at some point and take the bold step of selling certified aircraft at pre-liability Cessna quantities that match the technological times at a price that won’t eclipse your home mortgage. It will be a risk that I hope they are bold enough to assume. 

*February issue of Aviation Maintenance Tech 

Editor’s note:  The author lives in Leesburg (OH).  He flies a CJ-6A called the “Green Dragon.” His website is linked from our Links Page.  You may contact him at steve@fly-low.com.