Pease v. Engines
| Decision Date | 19 December 2011 |
| Docket Number | CIVIL ACTION NO. 4:10-CV-00843 |
| Parties | DAVID H. PEASE, III and LISA PEASE, Plaintiffs v. LYCOMING ENGINES, Defendant |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of Pennsylvania |
(Judge Conner)
Plaintiffs, David H. Pease III ("Mr. Pease") and Lisa Pease ("Mrs. Pease") (collectively, "the Peases"), bring this diversity action against defendant Lycoming Engines, Inc. ("Lycoming"). Presently before the court are two motions for summary judgment (Docs. 52, 67) and two motions to exclude expert testimony (Docs. 65, 66) filed by Lycoming.
On June 5, 2005, Mr. Pease was flying from Asheville, North Carolina, to Cincinnati, Ohio, in a Piper PA-32R-301T aircraft (the "Piper aircraft"). (Doc. 68 ¶ 1; Doc. 117 ¶ 1). During this flight, Mr. Pease's aircraft experienced an engine failure and crashed near Tazewell, Tennessee. (Id.) Mr. Pease suffered significant injuries as a result of the crash. The instant litigation is a diversity jurisdiction products liability action concerning the Piper aircraft's six-cylinder turbocharged Lycoming TIO-540-AH1A engine (the "AH1A engine") designed and manufactured by Lycoming. (Doc. 68 ¶¶ 4, 8; Doc. 117 ¶¶ 4, 8).
On June 25, 1997, the Federal Aviation Administration (the "FAA") approved the AH1A engine's type design and added the AH1A engine to Type Certificate E14EA.1 (Doc. 53 ¶ 1; Doc. 90 ¶ 1). Type Certificate E14EA certifies that the AH1A engine "meets the airworthiness requirements of Part 13/33 of the Federal Aviation Regulations" and all other "applicable portions of the Civil Air Regulations/Federal Aviation Regulations provided it is installed, operated, and maintained" properly. (Doc. 53 ¶ 3; Doc. 90 ¶ 3; Doc. 54, Ex. 1, at 1, 4). The parties generally agree that inadequate oil circulation damaged the AH1A engine's internal components, but disagree about the cause.
A thumbnail sketch of the operation of an AH1A engine is essential background information. The AH1A engine contains six cylinders and a turbocharger. (Doc. 68 ¶ 8; 117 ¶ 8). Combustion within the cylinders forces pistons down the cylinder barrels. (Doc. 68 ¶ 9; 117 ¶ 9). Connecting rods clamped to crankpin journals on the crankshaft affix to each piston. (Id.) The force of the pistons moving down the six cylinders travels through the connecting rods and crankshaft, thereby rotating the propeller. (Id.) The crankcase halves support various components of the engine, including the six cylinders and the crankshaft.2 (Doc. 68 ¶ 10; Doc. 117 ¶ 10). The crankshaft itself is supported during engine operation by five sets of main bearings seated within crankcase bearing supports. (Doc. 68 ¶ 12; Doc. 117 ¶ 12).
Lubrication is key to the proper operation of the engine, its pistons, and the crankshaft. Oil travels through the case valves to the main journal bearings to provide pressurized lubrication to the crankshaft. (Doc. 68 ¶ 14; Doc. 117 ¶ 14). The oil flows from the main journal bearings to the connecting rod journals through drilled passages in the crankshaft. (Id.)
The turbocharger mounts on the engine.3 (Id.) An external hose connected to the rear case supplies the turbocharger with oil. (Id.) Oil enters from the top of the turbocharger to lubricate the internal moving parts. (Doc. 68 ¶ 15; Doc. 117 ¶ 15). This oil exits through the turbocharger at the bottom of the unit, entering the oil drain tank through a tube structure. (Doc. 68 ¶¶ 15-16; Doc. 117 ¶¶ 15-16). The oil flows from the oil drain tank to the rear case. (Doc. 68 ¶ 15; Doc. 117 ¶ 15).
(Doc. 117 ¶ 41 (citation and quotations omitted)). The Peases allege that the leak can be traced to a fracture in the drain tube that developed over a period of time—i.e. a fatigue fracture. (Doc. 117 ¶ 41). Lycoming contends that the fracture occurred as a result of the crash itself—i.e. an overload fracture—and did not cause the leak. (Doc. 68 ¶ 19).
Each party proffers expert testimony in support of their respective positions. One of the Peases' experts, Colin Sommer ("Sommer"), testified that "the material on the surface of the fracture on the flange is heavily smeared" and that the fracture "has a shiny appearance, [indicative of] some metal-to-metal contact, some smearing of metal that occurred . . . from the tank to the flange." (Doc. 109, Ex. 2, at 43). Sommer noted in his Rule 26 report that this "cannot occur during a single overload event and can only be the result of an in-flight failure of the weld resulting in the loss of oil from the engine." (Doc. 116, Ex. 11, at 8). The Peases' other expert, Douglas Herlihy ("Herlihy"), opined that fatigue failure is readily apparent from the presence of oil cooked and burned onto the flange outside of the oil drain pipe. (Doc. 111, Ex. 2, at 163).
In contrast, one of Lycoming's experts, Gary J. Fowler, Ph.D ("Fowler"), concluded that there is no "metallurgical evidence to indicate separation by a fatigue mechanism due to engine vibration" or "evidence of a progressive fracturemechanism on the flange." (Doc. 69, Ex. 3, at 5). Fowler observed that the fracture is on a slant and exhibits dimple rupture, which clearly demonstrates that overload failure caused the fracture. (Id. at 4-5). He also stressed that a scanning electron microscope ("SEM") examination of the fracture surface failed to demonstrate any crack expansion caused by fatigue. (Id. at 5).
On April 20, 2007, the Peases filed suit against Lycoming and fourteen other defendants in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. (Docs. 1-2). On April 19, 2010, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama granted the Peases' motion to transfer venue and transferred the action to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. (Doc. 11-3). The matter was reassigned to the undersigned on December 22, 2010. On December 29, 2010, the Peases filed an amended complaint against Lycoming. (Doc. 46). The Peases list six counts in their amended complaint: violation of Civil Air Regulation ("CAR") Part 13, et seq., Aircraft Engine Airworthiness (Count I); violation of Federal Aviation Regulation ("FAR") §§ 21.3 and 145.21 (Count II); violation of FAR Part 33 et seq. (Count III); reckless and careless conduct (Count IV); punitive conduct (Count V); and loss of consortium by Mrs. Pease (Count VI). (Doc. 46).
Lycoming filed two motions for summary judgment. (Docs. 52, 67). In its first motion (Doc. 52), Lycoming seeks summary judgment on federal preemption grounds, and in its second motion (Doc. 67), Lycoming seeks summary judgmentpursuant to the Tennessee Products Liability Act of 1978 ("TPLA").4 Lycoming also moves to exclude the testimony of the Peases' liability experts, Colin A. Sommer and Douglas R. Herlihy. (Docs. 65, 66). Each of these motions is ripe for disposition.
Admissibility of expert testimony is a question of law governed by Federal Rule of Evidence 702. See Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharms., Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 588-89 (1993). The rule provides:
If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise, if (1) the testimony is based upon sufficient facts or data, (2) the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods, and (3) the witness has applied the principles and methods reliably to the facts of the case.
FED. R. EVID. 702; see also Calhoun v. Yamaha Motor Corp., U.S.A., 350 F.3d 316, 321 (3d Cir. 2003) (explaining that the Rule 702 requirements constitute "the 'trilogy of restrictions on expert testimony: qualification, reliability and fit'" (quoting Schneider v. Fried, 320 F.3d 396, 405 (3d Cir. 2003)). The trial judge acts as a "gatekeeper," charged with excluding unreliable expert testimony. See Calhoun, 350 F.3d at 321. Nonetheless, Rule 702 embraces a "liberal policy of admissibility," under which it is preferable to admit any evidence that may assist the trier of fact.
Pineda v. Ford Motor Co., 520 F.3d 237, 243 (3d Cir. 2008) (quoting Kannankeril v. Terminix Int'l, Inc., 128 F.3d 802, 806 (3d Cir. 1997)).
Through summary adjudication the court may dispose of those claims that do not present a "genuine issue as to any material fact" and for which a jury trial would be an empty and unnecessary formality. See FED. R. CIV. P. 56(a). Once the moving party demonstrates that there are no genuine issues of material fact, the burden shifts to the non-moving party to come forth with "affirmative evidence, beyond the allegations of the pleadings," in support of its right to relief. Pappas v. City of Lebanon, 331 F. Supp. 2d 311, 315 (M.D. Pa. 2004); see also Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23 (1986). This evidence must be adequate, as a matter of law, to sustain a judgment in favor of the non-moving party on the claims. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 250-57 (1986); Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587-89 (1986); see also FED. R. CIV. P. 56(a). Only if this threshold is met may the cause of action proceed. Pappas, 331 F. Supp. 2d at 315.
The...
To continue reading
Request your trial