Bahamasair Holdings Ltd (Appellant) v Messier Dowty Inc (Respondent) (Bahamas)
Case ID: JCPC 2017/0053
Jurisdiction: The Court of Appeal of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas
Case summary
Issue(s)
1. Was the Court of Appeal entitled to overturn particular findings made by the trial judge? These include the findings:
- that there was a defect or inadequacy in the design of the damper ring in the shock strut of the landing gear which collapsed and
- that the Appellant had been aware of that problem and changed its design as a result, but failed to warn the Respondent about it.
2. If not, is it open to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council to consider the issue of damages?
3. If so, has the Appellant proved the loss which it claims?
Facts
The Appellant is the operator of Bahamasair, the national airline of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. Its aircraft was landing in the Bahamas on 20 April 2007 when the left-hand main landing gear collapsed. The Respondent is a company based in Ontario, Canada, which manufactured the landing gear fitted to the aircraft. The landing gear had a "discard limit" of 60,000 cycles of take-off and landing.
In November 2011 the Appellant brought proceedings against the Respondent, alleging that parts of the collapsed landing gear had been defective and/or were incapable of tolerating the usage which the Respondent had recommended. The Appellant sought damages in the sum of US$3,484,459.00, which was said to represent the loss of the aircraft and the cost of accident investigation and assessment. In response, the Respondent alleged that the Appellant had caused the landing gear to collapse by failing to maintain it properly.
Parties
Appellant(s)
Bahamasair Holdings Ltd
Respondent(s)
Messier Dowty Inc
Appeal
Justices
Lord Kerr, Lord Wilson, Lord Hughes, Lady Black, Lord Lloyd-Jones
Hearing start date
15 Mar 2018
Hearing finish date
15 Mar 2018