Court Rules Cirrus Not Liable for Fatal SR22 Crash

Bethany Whitfield

Thursday, July 19, 2012 at 08:41 PM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The Minnesota Supreme Court upheld a prior appellate court ruling, finding Cirrus not liable for a fatal 2003 SR22 crash.
Families of the victims had sued, arguing Cirrus was negligent for not providing specific pilot training, particularly on using autopilot in instrument conditions.
A lower court initially found Cirrus 75% liable, but this was overturned by an appeals court.
The Supreme Court concluded that a manufacturer's duty is to provide instructions for safe use, not proficiency training.

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The Minnesota Supreme Court voted 4-2 on Wednesday to uphold an** earlier appellate court’s ruling** that found Cirrus not liable for a 2003 crash that killed two men flying in a Cirrus SR22 to see their sons play in a hockey tournament.

The ruling is the final decision in a lengthy legal battle that began when the families of the two men sued the Duluth, Minnesota-based manufacturer for negligence, maintaining Cirrus did not provide appropriate pilot training that could have prevented the crash.