A complex legal dispute that began in August 2017 over a flight chartered for Hollywood star Bruce Willis has finally been resolved - at least in part - by a Texas appeals court, resulting in a partial victory for two charter companies, BMH Air (San Antonio International), Maximum Flight Advantages (MFA) trading as Evolution Jets, in their claims against Saturn Aviation (STV, Austin-Bergstrom International).

The case stems from a 2017 incident in which the auxiliary power unit (APU) of Legacy 600 N529GB (msn 14500994) failed before a charter flight that was supposed to take Willis from Ohio to New York.

Though the issue was resolved and the flight completed, it triggered an eight-year contractual dispute over airworthiness, leasing terms, and maintenance responsibilities.

BMH Air had dry-leased the aircraft, then registered as N994PF, to MFA in June 2016, which subleased it to Saturn Aviation to provide full operational services. MFA later transferred its rights to its new legal entity, Evolution Jets LLC.

After the APU incident, disputes arose over airworthiness and invoicing, eventually resulting in Evolution Jets terminating the sublease. Subsequently, BMH Air and Evolution Jets sued Saturn Aviation for breach of contract and other claims.

On December 25, 2022, Texas' Gillespie County Trial Court found in their favour, awarding more than USD575,000 in damages and nearly USD457,000 in attorney's fees. Saturn Aviation appealed, arguing the underlying agreements were invalid or improperly applied and that it was entitled to damages.

After reviewing the case, a full bench of the Texas Fourth Court of Appeals in San Antonio upheld much of a lower court’s ruling on July 2, 2025, but also reversed some key damages, according to court documents seen by ch-aviation.

The appeals court affirmed the trial court's decision ordering Saturn Aviation to pay USD954,973.11 to BMH Air in actual damages for the aircraft's inspection, repair, and recovery costs, plus attorney fees and legal costs. Similarly, it awarded Evolution Jets a USD60,000 refund for an operating deposit.

However, the court reversed USD197,400 in damages that BMH Air was awarded for replacement aircraft costs and vacated an USD18,596 award to Evolution Jets for incidental and consequential expenses.

The case was remanded to the trial court for recalculation of damages in line with the appellate court's decision. All other elements of the trial court’s ruling remain in effect.

Drawing a light-hearted parallel to Willis's famously indestructible "Die Hard" movie character, the court said it was now bringing the case to a close. "Unlike Willis' character John McClane, who refuses to die despite taking on terrorists single-handedly, today we put this dispute to rest," quipped Judge Lori Massey Brissette.

The registration details of the affected E135 jet were not disclosed in the court documents. ch-aviation has contacted BMH Air for the details. According to the FAA aircraft register, N529GB is the only aircraft currently owned by BMH Air and is currently placed on the Part 135 certificate of Wing Aviation.

FAA records show that BMH Air and Maximum Flight Advantages/Evolution Jets operate no aircraft certified for Part 135 charters, while the Part 135-certified fleet of Saturn Aviation comprises one Falcon 900EX EASy and one Falcon 2000(LX).