Recent Development by A.J. Rufty III
Shortly after take-off, Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) flight 759 crashed near New Orleans, killing all passengers aboard. Among those killed were five citizens and residents of Uruguay vacationing in the United States. Heirs of the Uruguayan decedents instituted both survivor's and wrongful death actions against Pan Am and others. The heirs also planned to join the United States as a defendant, but first had to exhaust their administrative remedies under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). At a pretrial hearing, Pan Am informed the district court that it anticipated filing a motion to dismiss the claims against it on the ground of forum non conveniens. The district court warned that it would deny such a motion since the joinder of the United States as a defendant was imminent. Pan Am filed the motion to dismiss, which was denied, as were its motions for reconsideration and certification of the ruling for interlocutory appeal. Pan Am's petition to the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals for a supervisory writ of mandamus was likewise rejected. Pan Am and the United States then stipulated as to liability, damages, defenses, and payment against any subsequent judgment. As anticipated, the plaintiffs exhausted their administrative remedies under the FTCA without success, enabling the plaintiffs to join the United States as a defendant. The plaintiffs' cases were consolidated at trial and the district court entered judgment against Pan Am and the United States in the amounts awarded by the jury. On appeal, the Fifth Circuit, convening both in panel and, on rehearing, en banc, held that the district court's denial of Pan American's motion to dismiss on the ground of forum non conveniens was not an abuse of its discretion. In re Air Crash Disaster Near New Orleans, Louisiana on July 9, 1982, 821 F.2d 1147 (5th Cir. 1987).
About the Author
A.J. Rufty III.
Citation
62 Tul. L. Rev. 813 (1988)