Aanestad v. Beech Aircraft Corporation

521 F.2d 1298 Katherine Marie AANESTAD, as Administratrix of the Estate of Richard Ernest Sykes, Deceased, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. BEECH AIRCRAFT CORPORATION, a corporation, and Teledyne-Continental Motors, a corporation, Defendants-Appellees. No. 73-2810. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. June 20, 1974. Daniel C. Cathcart, Los Angeles, Cal., for plaintiff-appellant. Sherman S. Welpton, Jr., Los Angeles, Cal., for defendants-appellees. OPINION Before BROWNING, WRIGHT and TRASK, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: 1 The sole issue on this appeal is whether the district court correctly determined that it had no personal jurisdiction over the defendant in a wrongful death action. We affirm. 2 The decedent, Richard Ernest Sykes, was a resident of New Mexico when a Beechcraft airplane in which he was a passenger crashed near Las Cruces, New Mexico, in January 1972. He was killed in the accident. Surviving him are his widow and two sons, all of whom were and are residents of New Mexico. The aircraft involved in the accident had never been owned or operated in California. 3 The airplane was virtually new, having been flown from the Beech company's manufacturing plant at Wichita,…