Reed Smith attorneys secured a victory for an engine manufacturer named in a lawsuit filed by the widow of country music star Troy Lee Gentry, who died in a helicopter crash in 2017.

In the lawsuit, Gentry v. Herlihy Helicopters, Gentry’s wife, Angela Gentry, alleged that a carburetor in the helicopter engine had manufacturing and design defect, which caused the needle valve to stick open and flood the engine with fuel.

However, on Tuesday, Burlington County Judge James J. Ferrelli said the evidence in the record supported the defendant Avco Corp.’s motion for summary judgment. Specifically, Ferrelli said that another company, AVStar, manufactured those components. According to the ruling, Avco had filed a cross-claim against AVStar.

“Further, even if Avco were considered a ‘seller’ of the allegedly defective carburetor, Avco is relieved of liability under the NJPLA seller exception because it did not design or manufacture the carburetor, and the court does not find that any of the exceptions to seller immunity apply in this case,” Ferrelli said. “Accordingly, Avco is entitled to summary judgment in its favor, dismissing all of plaintiff’s claims with prejudice.”

Counsel to Avco, Patrick E. Bradley, a partner with Reed Smith’s aviation litigation team in Princeton, told the Law Journal the company was "adamant all along that the carburetor did not play any role in this accident." Catherine Kiernan of Reed Smith also represented Avco.

According to Bradley, the issues in this case, including whether an engine manufacturer is responsible for engine parts manufactured by others, come up in aviation cases regularly. Here, Bradley said, the judge concluded that even if Avco was responsible for selling the component in question, it had immunity under the New Jersey Product Liability Act.

“There are not a ton of cases on those aspects of the Product Liability Act in New Jersey,” Bradley said. “So this could be an important case and I think it was decided correctly.”

The claims stemmed from the Sept. 8, 2017, helicopter ride Troy Gentry took in Medford that crashed almost immediately after lifting off the ground. The plaintiff claimed that Avco used a defective carburetor in the helicopter engine, and that defect caused the crash. Angela Gentry, whose husband was in the musical duo Montgomery Gentry, sued Avco and others in Burlington County Superior Court. Both parties moved for summary judgment in the case and Gentry moved to sever Avco’s cross-claims for indemnity against AVStar, the carburetor manufacturer.

On Tuesday Ferrelli not only sided with Avco on its motion for summary judgment, the judge also allowed the company's cross-claim for indemnity to survive a motion for severance.

Ferrelli said Gentry’s sole cause of action for harm caused by a manufacturing or design defect is under the NJPLA. Therefore, the judge said, the negligence claims, breach of implied warranty, and breach of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act must be dismissed and subsumed under the NJPLA. But Gentry could not sustain those claims because Avco breached no warranty or contract, Ferrelli said.

Counsel to Gentry, Louis Giansante of Giansante & Associates in Moorestown, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. AVStar did not immediately return a message seeking comment about the ruling.