The Court held that a helicopter maintenance provider breached its duty of care by failing to detect visible fatigue cracking in the exhaust diffuser during a daily inspection immediately before the crash, accepting metallurgical expert evidence (Dr Farzaneh) that oxidation in the crack indicated it had been present for at least a day prior to the flight. However, contributory negligence was assessed at 50% because the pilot signed the daily inspection form and admitted in cross-examination that he carried out the same daily inspection with the same obligations as the LAME, negating his attempt to distinguish between a pilot's pre-flight inspection and a LAME's daily inspection. On the vibration issue, the Court held that compliance with the manufacturer's maintenance manual was powerful evidence of reasonable care, applying Dovuro v Wilkins, and declined to impose a higher standard requiring vibration testing where the manual did not mandate it on the facts as found.
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