Husband of Real Housewives of Melbourne star Lydia Schiavello takes on Cessna over ‘dud’ plane
The high-flying husband of Real Housewives of Melbourne star Lydia Schiavello is locked in a seven-year legal tussle with Cessna who he says sold him a dud plane. Here’s how it’s unfolded.
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The high-flying husband of Real Housewives of Melbourne star Lydia Schiavello is locked in a seven-year legal tussle with Cessna who he says sold him a dud plane.
Andrew Norbury launched legal action against the US-based aircraft manufacturer after discovering a fault in his jet’s rudder — a defect Cessna would not fix under warranty.
He claims the Cessna 525 Citation CJI+ jet — purchased in 2006 for $US4.35 million — is now unairworthy and worthless.
A thick folder of civil court documents reveal a back-and-forth paper trail since 2012 between the Melbourne architect and Cessna Aircraft Company, now known as Textron Aviation, over alleged breaches of their purchase agreement.
Cessna claims it has no contractual obligation to replace or repair the aircraft; and passed the buck to the maker of the plane’s flight guidance system, Rockwell Collins.
Both companies are now set to face-off with Mr Norbury in a judge-only trial in the Supreme Court next month.
Mr Norbury — who has an estimated net worth of $50 million — claims he became aware of the alleged defect when the jet made two uncommanded left turns during descent into Essendon Airport on a flight from Merimbula on April 3, 2011.
In his statement of claim, he alleges “emergency manoeuvres to restore a stable flight pattern” had to be made.
“In the circumstances, the aircraft is unairworthy, cannot be flown safely and is therefore of negligible value,” Mr Norbury claims.
He said the warranty states that Cessna would cover any defects for up to five years or 5000 operating hours.
His plane had flown less than 5000 hours.
Cessna disputes the defect and says it has failed to find an aircraft expert in Australia to conduct a full assessment on possible causes of the alleged uncommanded rolls.
In a mission it claims would cost about $50,000, it planned to send a team of experts with equipment, including a laser scan machine, from its Kansas headquarters to Melbourne to do an assessment of the plane earlier this year.
But due to international borders closing amid the COVID-19 pandemic, that was unable to take place.
Cessna says if it is proven a defect has been found then Rockwell Collins should be liable as it had agreed to provide Cessna with flight guidance systems that were free from design defects for 18 years after installation.
Despite being a successful property investor and the CEO of METIER3 since 1998, Mr Norbury had kept a low profile until his wife signed up to Foxtel’s Real Housewives of Melbourne.
The reality TV socialite copped criticism when she admitted on the show that she had once flown to King Island with her husband in his private plane just to buy cheese.
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