Maria Cardwell Tomlin, and Christine Williams Harrell v. The Boeing Company

The laws of four states and the Republic of South Vietnam are potentially involved in this case. The issue is whether the appellants’ wrongful death action against the Boeing Company is time-barred. The answer turns on which statute of limitations governs. The/ district court, interpreting Washington conflicts law, concluded that a Washington court would not apply Washington’s three year statute of limitation and dismissed the case as time-barred under the other states’ shorter limitation periods. We conclude that a recent decision of the Washington Supreme Court indicates that it would apply Washington’s three year statute and reverse.

The relevant facts are not disputed. Two servicemen, Barry Tomlin and Samuel Harrell, were killed in a helicopter crash in South Vietnam on May 10, 1972. The helicopter which they were piloting crashed because an aft rotor blade developed a crack and separated in mid-flight. Vetrol, a Pennsylvania based division of The Boeing Company, built the helicopter and rotor blade. The United States Army acquired the helicopter in 1965.

Tomlin and Harrell were each survived by a wife and two children. Tomlin’s wife, Maria, and children lived in Alabama at…