Federal Preemption Is/Is Not The Answer!
During the last several days, we have seen the principle of
federal preemption featured in not only the drone/UAS World, but in
the more traditional world of aviation as well.
In the latter context, on April 19, the United States Court of
Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that federal law, does not
preempt state law product liability claims.
Sikkelee v. Precision Airmotive Corp. et
al. In doing so, the Third Circuit
snatched a victory away from Textron Lycoming which the District
Court had given it when, in 2010, it dismissed the
plaintiffs’ claims, finding that such claims, premised on
state law, were preempted by federal law.
In another context, on the same day, by a vote of 95 to 3, the
Senate passed its version of the Federal Aviation Administration
Reauthorization Act of 2016, in which it, among other provisions,
proposed that states cannot enact laws relating to the
"design, manufacture, testing, licensing,
