Fortaner
Fortaner v. Boeing Co.
Opinion
lead Opinion
*580 MEMORANDUM *
This is an appeal from an order of the United States District Court for the Central District of California, dismissing 116 consolidated suits on forum non conve-niens grounds.
This litigation arises out of a 2008 airplane accident in Madrid, in which a Spa-nair flight crashed on takeoff, killing 154 people and injuring 18 others, none of whom were United States citizens or residents. Two hundred and four plaintiffs, mostly Spanish nationals, brought wrongful death and personal injury actions in various United States district courts. The complaints asserted negligence and strict products liability claims against Boeing Company and various component manufacturers (“Boeing”), alleging that a takeoff warning system (“TOWS”) failed to alert the Spanair crew to misconfiguration of the plane’s wing flaps and slats. The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidated the suits in the Central District of California.
Boeing filed a forum non conveniens motion to dismiss, arguing that the suits should proceed in Spain. The district court first found that the Spanish courts were an adequate alternative forum. After weighing various private and public interest…