"TaxSrv" wrote in message
...
"Bill Denton" wrote:
Which is why a new Skyhawk costs more than $200,000, while the
actual cost
of the airplane would allow it to be priced at $100,000 were it not
for
idiotic juries, tangled theories of liability, and plaintiff's
attorneys...

Those #'s are way exaggerated. For just single-engine alone, they
were running about 1,000 units per year, or under your #'s an _annual_
bankroll of $100 million for product liability, plus whaetver their
safer Citations and stuff can add to the theoretical pot. How much of
such a huge total pot to date have they paid out in recent years?

As I undertand it, their halting of production pending passage of
product liability reform was not just the actual costs of suits, but
the growing uncertainty of future costs on an aging fleet. The law,
GARA, put an 18-yr cutoff date on liability. They cost $200,000
because they are expensive to produce, and merely $5,000 of built-in
liability cost would allow for an annual $5 million liability payout
on the S/E fleet. That $5K number I think I even read somewhere as
reasonable for Cessna volume.

Fred F.


How many airplanes at $5,000.00 per?

$480 million - The largest aviation verdict awarded to plaintiffs in
history. (Cassoutt vs. Cessna) 2002
This verdict arose from an accident that was a repeat of a well-known
problem with Cessna aircraft. When the pilot applied power for takeoff, the
seat came out of its latch and rocketed the pilot suddenly rearward while he
was holding onto the control yoke. The sudden pull back resulted in an
upward pitch of the aircraft, an aerodynamic stall, and an inevitable crash.
In this accident, the pilot suffered third degree burns, his wife had third
and fourth degree burns, and a passenger sustained crippling injuries that
caused bowel and bladder dysfunction. The jury found $80 million in
compensatory damages and $400 million in punitive damages against the Cessna
Aircraft Company.


$29,300,000 (Harper vs. Cessna) 1984
The deaths of a pilot and his son were caused when the seat of a Cessna 172
unlatched on takeoff, causing the pilot to lose control of the aircraft and
crash. The suit was jointly tried with other able counsel. Punitive damages
of $25 million and compensatory damages of $4,300,000 were awarded to punish
the defendant, Cessna Aircraft Company, for a defective design that had
caused many deaths and serious injuries.