Lueck

Plaintiffs appeal the district court’s dismissal of their suit on the basis of forum non conveniens. Plaintiffs, citizens of New Zealand, are victims of an airplane crash in New Zealand, on a New Zealand carrier. Plaintiffs allege that the radio altimeter of the Ground Proximity Warning System (“GPWS”) malfunctioned during flight and was a causal factor of the accident. Defendants, the Canadian manufacturer of the aircraft and the American manufacturers of the GPWS and the radio altimeter, argued that New Zealand was an adequate alternative forum and that the public and private factors weighed in favor of dismissal. The district court agreed with Defendants. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Flight 703 and the Ensuing Investigation

On June 5, 1995, Ansett New Zealand (“Ansett”) Flight 703 took off from Auckland with an intended destination of Palmerston North, New Zealand. The commuter flight carried 21 persons-three crew members and 18 passengers. All of the passengers were citizens of New Zealand, *1141 except for one who was a citizen of the United States. As the flight approached Palmerston North, the flight crew prepared for…