Definition Of Airworthiness

In ACG Acquisitions XX LLC v. Olympic Airlines (in Liquidation)¹, the airline defendant was estopped from alleging that the aircraft, a Boeing 737-300 aircraft was not in the condition required by the Lease because of representation contained in a signed certificate of acceptance. Mr Justice Teare, in his judgment, considered the meaning of airworthiness because it was a major debate between the parties. Neither party were able to refer to any authorities which considered the meaning of airworthiness². He stated, an appropriate test of airworthiness is:

"Would a prudent operator of an aircraft have required that the defect should be made good before permitting the aircraft to fly, had he known of it. If he would, the aircraft was not airworthy."