I read every post and didn't see anyone answer a good question that was asked. If the AMA is going to take it upon themselves to "certify" anything then what is their responsibility of that thing fails? I know there can be circumstances where the item in question has been certified but fails due to some damage done to it such as the owner knocking the stab hard into the wall, damaging it, not fixing it and flying it anyway. That's NOT the sort of thing I'm asking about.

What I'm asking is what if the plane is certified, does not take any damage, fails in flight because it has a design defect that the AMA certified and then the plane crashes causing damage to person or property? I think the AMA would be opening themselves up to a great deal of liability. Admittedly, I have no idea how the law works with things like this but it seems to me if you say something is ok when it isn't then you are not competent to make that decision in the first place and open to some pretty serious lawsuits.

At the very least it seems the AMA would need to hire some very qualified engineers to do these certifications.