Northern Power & Engineering Corp. v. Caterpillar Tractor Co.

OPINION

CONNOR, Justice.

In this products liability case we are asked to determine whether the superior court erred by characterizing appellant’s injury as “economic loss” rather than “property damage.” This determination is necessitated by our holding in Morrow v. New Moon Homes, Inc., 548 P.2d 279, 286 (Alaska 1976) that “strict liability in tort ... does not extend to the consumer who suffers only economic loss.”

The essential facts are not in dispute. In 1968, appellant, Northern Power & Engineering Corp. [Northern Power] purchased from Northern Commercial Co. [NC] a diesel powered…