A New Frontier in Aviation Law: Utilizing Business Torts as an Additional Cause of Action
![handle is hein.journals/arzjl44 and id is 369 raw text is: A NEW FRONTIER IN AVIATION LAW: Utilizing
Business Torts as an Additional Cause of
Action
Molly Lynch*
I. INTRODUCTION
In 1987, Northwest Airlines Flight 255, headed for Phoenix and then
Orange County, crashed shortly after take-off from Detroit.' One of the
victims, Nick Vanos, was playing center for the Phoenix Suns basketball
2
team. As newspaper articles detailed immediately following the crash,
Vanos, who had a slow start during his first two seasons in the NBA, had
recently emerged as the [Suns'] No. 1 center.
This paper examines whether Vanos's agent, the Suns' general manager,
and other parties with an economic connection to Vanos should be able to
sue the responsible parties, such as the manufacturer if the plane crashed
due to a design flaw, or the airline if pilot error caused the crash,' based on
products liability or negligence theories. It argues that the primary goals of
tort law-compensation and deterrence-are not met when that theory of
liability is precluded.
Courts can award a wide variety of damages to those injured in an
aviation accident or to the dependents, heirs, or spouses of those killed.' For
example, recoverable damages include but are not limited to:
Necessary and reasonable medical expenses ... [1]oss of past and
future earnings ... [c]ost of hiring substitute or assistant .. . [c]ost
of hiring home care attendants for cooking, cleaning, and the like .
[c]ost of occupational therapy or training . . . [h]arm from
*. Managing Editor, Arizona State Law Journal. J.D. Candidate, May 2012, Sandra Day
O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University; B.A., Political Science, The University
of Arizona, 2009. The Author would like to thank Professor Betsy Grey for her advisory
assistance, and Michael Widener of Bonnett, Fairbourn, Friedman & Balint, P.C. for assisting
the Author in choosing this topic.
1. In re Air Crash Disaster, 86 F.3d 498, 511 (6th Cir. 1996); Isabel Wilkerson, Jet
Crashes at Detroit; 153 Aboard Believed Dead, N.Y. TIMES, Aug. 17, 1987, at Al.
2. Bob Cohn, Suns Center Among Dead in Jet Crash: Vanos Had Improved to Starter
Status, WASH. POsT, Aug. 18, 1987, at Cl.
3. Id.
4. 51 AM. JUR. PROOF OF FACTS 3D ProofofLiability for Air Crash § 12 (1999).
5. Id. § 89.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/arzjl44&div=14&collection=journals&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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A New Frontier in Aviation Law: Utilizing Business Torts as an Additional Cause of Action
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