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Buyer (or its designated professional pilot) has the skills, training and experience necessary to safely operate the Aircraft. Seller is not providing any transitional training for the Aircraft of any kind.”
Even though the basic rule of caveat emptor (let the buyer beware) usually prevails, it’s better to be safe than sorry. As a seller’s attorney, I still recommend disclosing any known defects and answering truthfully any questions about the aircraft’s known damage history. Having said that, there is one buyer’s question that no seller should ever attempt to answer: “Is this aircraft airworthy?” The answer to this question is for the seller to tell the buyer: “Ask your mechanic when he does the pre-buy exam.” The last thing any seller should represent (either orally or in writing) is that their aircraft is “airworthy,” as this has a distinct legal meaning that could create a legal representation that will come back to haunt a seller. Millions of dollars in litigation have been spent on buy-sells gone wrong over what the term “airworthy” means.
With regard to a pre-buy inspection, a seller’s biggest fear is: What might the buyer’s mechanic find? More
importantly, if the buyer doesn’t like the results and walks from the sale, what happens next? When a mechanic starts tearing apart an airplane for the pre- buy, it legally grounds the airplane until it is returned to service by a mechanic’s signature. What if the mechanic discovers an airworthiness issue and won’t sign it off for a return flight home? For the seller’s protection, there should be a restoration clause, something to the effect of:
“If buyer elects not to proceed with the sale for any reason, buyer is responsible for restoring the aircraft to its pre-inspection condition at the KXXX (Seller’s) airport” within XX days of the commencement of the examination.”
Without this clause, the seller may have to hire his own mechanic at some unknown airport just to get the bird home.
Other critical language that every seller needs is an integration clause, something to the effect of:
“This Agreement constitutes the entire understanding among the parties hereto with respect to the subject
Cessna Piston Twins
OCTOBER 2023
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 13