A British aviation firm contends in a lawsuit that a Florida aircraft management company failed to properly inspect a Learjet, botched repairs to landing gear – which allegedly caused a tire blowout on landing – then failed to verify inspection records.
“The passengers on that aircraft who experienced a malfunction upon landing are lucky to be alive,” reads the amended complaint by Omega Aviation versus Presidential Aviation, filed in Broward County Circuit Court in Fort Lauderdale. “It takes little imagination to understand what can happen if Presidential Aviation continues to conduct fake inspections of airplanes.”
The lawsuit is the latest example of the turbulence hitting the aviation and aviation insurance industries, including claims and lawsuits resulting from a number of high-profile accidents that have garnered extensive news coverage in the last year. Florida-based Brown & Brown Insurance brokerage reported this spring that insurance claims costs have spiked, due to the soaring cost of aircraft parts, a shortage of qualified mechanics and aggressive plaintiffs’ law firms that regularly target the full policy limits. Likewise, McLarens Aviation and Global Aerospace noted that the industry has seen a sharp rise in claims inflation as the cost of major aircraft repairs jumped about 30% in 2024.
In the Broward County lawsuit, Fort Lauderdale-headquartered Presidential Aviation has asked the judge to dismiss Omega’s complaint, contending that the plaintiffs failed to state a cause of action and did not provide sufficient documentation.
But Omega, headquartered in Isle of Man, UK, said false or missing documentation is part of the problem – caused by Presidential. It all began in 2022, the complaint notes, when Omega hired Presidential to conduct a safety inspection of a Learjet 45XR craft before Omega purchased it.
After Presidential signed off on the jet, Omega completed the purchase but then found numerous issues, including a fuel-line leak; water leakage into the baggage compartment; toilet assembly corrosion; and cracked horizontal stabilizer fairings. Presidential’s representatives also allegedly reported that a two-year inspection date was approaching in December 2022. In reality, the due date had already passed, meaning that the craft had been flying for months without being properly checked, the complaint reads.
“…But for defendant’s severely flawed pre-buy inspection of the aircraft, plaintiff would not have purchased the aircraft given its actual condition,” the suit reads.
Without knowledge of the flaws missed in the inspection, Omega hired Presidential to manage maintenance of the Learjet for the next few years. When Presidential provided a more thorough, heavy-maintenance inspection, subcontractor crews determined that the landing gear needed work. But wiring to a gear component was then installed in the wrong position, rendering the anti-lock brakes inoperable, Omega charged. On July 15, 2024, as the plane was landing in Turkey, the left tire ruptured, triggering damage to the plane, extensive repairs, downtime and more than $100,000 in losses, the lawsuit contends.
Now suspicious of Presidential, Omega leadership later hired other technicians to conduct further inspections. They found several more problems, the suit argues.
The lawsuit charges breach of contract and negligence and asks for “all damages recoverable under law,” including attorney fees and costs. Presidential officials declined to comment and the firm’s liability insurer was not named in the complaint.
Photo: A Learjet 45XR, similar to the one at issue in the Omega lawsuit. (Adobe Stock images)
Topics
Lawsuits
Florida
Aviation
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