There are many cases when more than one party may be held liable for an aviation accident. In these instances, it is the responsibility of a judge or jury to assess the extent to which each defendant can be held liable. For example, it may be determined that manufacturer is 70 percent responsible for an aviation accident but that further errors on the part of the pilot make up the remaining 30 percent. This is called “comparative fault” or “comparative liability” and is the means by which most states determine the distribution of blame.