IN RE: Air Crash Disaster at Taipei International Airport on July 31, 1975

‘ Case MDL No. 283 Document 2 Filed CBP Fre lof 6	NVA,
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BEFORE THE JUDICIAL PANEL QL) ET ET
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MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION dz, v0 / A
Rho A SE
IN RE AIR CRASH DISASTER AT TAIPEI ) DOCKET NO4:383 Ce
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ON JULY 31, 1975) 0% :
OPINION AND ORDER :
BEFORE JOHN MINOR WISDOM, CHAIRMAN, AND EDWARD WEINFELD, on : :
EDWIN A. ROBSON, WILLIAM H. BECKER,* JOSEPH Ss. LORD, III,* URE FEE
STANLEY A.WEIGEL, AND ANDREW A. CAFFREY, JUDGES OF THE PANEL SA Ea ;
—_— ‘283
PER CURIAM lof
This litigation arises from the crash of a Far Eastern
Air Transport Corporation (Far Eastern) aircraft in Taipei, Lo : :
Republic of China. Two persons, as representatives of the Co :
estates of two passengers who died in the crash, have |
instituted five substantially similar actions against Far Eastern
in five districts: the District of Guam, the District of
Hawaii, the Central District of california, the Southern ,
District of New York, and the District of the District of :
Columbia. The complaints in these five actions charge Far Co
Eastern with negligence in the operaticn, maintenance and :
control of the aircraft. Co
Far Eastern moves the Panel pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1407
for an order transferring all actions pending in districts
other than the District of the District of Columbia to that
*Judges Becker and Lord took no part in the consideration or
decision of this matter.

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® district for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings
with the action already pending there. Plaintiffs agree
that transfer under Section 1407 is appropriate, but they
favor the Southern District of New York as the transferee
forum. We find that these actions clearly involve common
questions of fact and that their transfer to the District of
the District of Columbia for coordinated or consolidated
pretrial proceedings under Section 1407 will best serve
the convenience of the parties and witnesses and promote
the just and efficient conduct of the litigation.
Generally, we have transferred litigation arising from
aircraft disasters occurring within the continental United
® States to the district of the situs of the crash. See, e.g.,In re Air Crash Disaster at John F. Kennedy International
Airport on June 24, 1975, 407 F. Supp. 244 (J.P.M.L. 1976).
No general rule, however, has yet emerged with respect to
our selection of a transferee court in litigation involving
overseas air disasters. See In re Air Crash Disaster Near
Saigon, South Vietnam, on April 4, 1975, 404 F. Supp. 478,
479 (J.P.M.L. 1975). In the matter now before us, plaintiffs
urge that selection of the Southern District of New York as the
transferee forum will be most convenient for plaintiffs and
their witnesses because, of the districts in which actions are
currently pending in this litigation, that district is
closest to the State of Connecticut, the residence of the
® decedents, their survivors and their survivors' guardians.
Plaintiffs also maintain that the expense of travel to a

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Na forum would be adverse to their interests.We are not persuaded by these arguments and, on balance,
find that the District of the District of Columbia is the
preferable transferee forum. Transfer of an action under
Section 1407 does not require all discovery to occur in the
transferee district. See In re Stirling Homex Corporation
Securities Litigation, 405 F. Supp. 314, 316, (J.P.M.L. 1975).
The depositions of plaintiffs' Connecticut witnesses may still be
taken where they reside. 1d. Moreover, since plaintiffs have
decided to instigate five separate actions in five separate
districts, we find it difficult to give much weight to their
contention of hardship when	a district	in which they brought
an action is selected as the transferee forum.
® Far Eastern represents that it presently does not offer
service within the United States or its territories. Far
Eastern has, however, filed a petition with the Civil
Aeronautics Board in Washington, D.C., for permission to
initiate charter cargo flights from Taiwan to the United
States. It is therefore likely that Washington, D.C. will be
the only place within the United States where documents and
data relating to Far Eastern's operations may be found. Thus, to
the extent that discovery will be sought from the Civil
Aeronautics Board, the location of that agency in the
District of Columbia is a factor favoring the selection of
the District of the District of Columbia as the appropriate
®

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® transferee court. See In re Air Crash Disaster Near Saigon,
South Vietnam, on April 4, 1975, 404 F. Supp. 478, 480 (J.P.M.L.
1975).
Furthermore, the District of the District of Columbia
has a significantly lighter civil action docket than the
Southern District of New York, see Administrative Office of
: the United States Courts, Judicial Workload Statistics, July -
December 1976, at 100, and therefore is in the position to process
this litigation more expeditiously. See In re Eastern Airlines, Inc.
Flight Attendant Weight Prcgram Litigation, 391 F. Supp. 763,
764-65 (J.P.M.L. 1975).
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1407,
® all actions listed on the following Schedule A and pending indistricts other than the District of the District of
Columbia be, and the same hereby are, transferred to the
District of the District of Columbia and, with the consent
of that court, assigned to the Honorable Joseph C. Waddy
for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings with
the action listed on Schedule A and pending in that district.
®

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DOCKET NO, 283
DISTRICT OF GUAM : Civil Action No.
Catherine M. Donahue, et al. v. Far 76 Civ. 0031
Eastern Air Transport Corp., a/k/a
Yuan Tung Aeronautic Co.
DISTRICT OF HAWAII
Catherine M. Donahue, et al. v. Far 76 Civ. 0262
Eastern Air Transport Corp., a/k/a
Yuan Tung Aeronautic Co.
CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
Catherine M. Donahue, et al. v. Far 76 Civ. 2323 WMB
Eastern Air Transport Corp., a/k/a
Yuan Tung Aeronautic Co.
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
Catherine M. Donahue, et al. v. Far 76 Civ: 3100
Eastern Air Transport Corp., a/k/a
Yuan Tung Aeronautic Co.
® DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Catherine M. Donahue, et al. v. Far 76-1333
Eastern Air Transport Corp., a/k/a
Yuan Tung Aeronautic Co.

Case MDL No. 283 Document 2 Filed 05/04/15 Page 6 of 6
JUDICIAL PANEL OY
’ MU TIDISTRICT LiTI0ATION CE
FLED Tele Te
DOCKET NO. 283
BEFORE THE JUDICIAL PANEL ON MULTIDISTRICT pre rdiprh 1378 CLT :
PATRICIA D. HOHARD
IN RE AIR CRASH DISASTER AT TAIPEI INTERNATIONAL AIRFOEF ONPA~cL . Co
Jury 31, 1975 P28;
2/0 |
ORDER REASSIGNING LITIGATION
In light of the recent death of The Honorable Joseph C. Waddy, oo - oo
who was the transferee judge in this litigation, So
IT IS ORDERED that the litigation be, and the same
hereby is, reassigned to the Honorable William B. Bryant
for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings :
under 28 U.S.C. §1407. :
FOR THE PANEL: : Co
ETL LTJ, EE
John Minor Wisdom
Chairman