In Re Air Crash Disaster Near Silver Plume, Colorado

352 F. Supp. 968, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10844

• Court: United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation
• Decided: December 5, 1972
• Docket: 112
• Status: Published

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

Before ALFRED P. MURRAH * , Chairman, and JOHN MINOR WISDOM, EDWARD WEINFELD, EDWIN A. ROBSON, WILLIAM H. BECKER, JOSEPH S. LORD, III, and STANLEY A. WEIGEL, Judges of the Panel.

PER CURIAM.

On October 2, 1970, a chartered aircraft transporting the Wichita State University football team and associated personnel crashed in the Rocky Mountains near Silver Plume, Colorado. Of the forty persons aboard, thirty-two succumbed to injuries received in the crash. The Panel ordered the parties to actions pending in federal court to show cause why this litigation should not be transferred to a single district for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings. The parties responding to the order to show cause do not oppose transfer. We find that the actions involve substantial common questions of fact, and, to insure that duplication of discovery is avoided and inconvenience to the parties and witnesses minimized, we order the actions listed on the appended Schedule A and pending in districts other than the District of Kansas transferred to that district for pretrial proceedings with the actions pending there.

Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas, had an agreement with Golden Eagle Aviation, Inc. of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, concerning transportation of the Wichita State football team to its game in Logan, Utah. Golden Eagle provided the necessary flight crew and services for the ill-fated flight. The aircraft that crashed was owned by the Jack Richards Aircraft Company of Oklahoma City.

Actions have been filed in three different federal district courts and in Kansas and Oklahoma state courts alleging that Jack Richards and Golden Eagle negligently failed to comply with regulations applicable to the flight. The federal court actions also allege that the United States, through its agent, the Federal Aviation Administration, was negligent in permitting Golden Eagle to operate without proper licenses. In addition, the Kansas and Oklahoma state court actions charge Wichita State University with negligence in failing to see that proper federal aviation regulations had been complied with.

The necessity for transfer of these actions to a single district having been es tablished, the choice of the appropriate transferee forum is the only question at issue. The majority of state court actions are pending in Kansas and most of the plaintiffs and prospective plaintiffs in this litigation are domiciliaries of Kansas. In addition, the key witnesses to the issues in this litigation are either located in or within easy commuting distance of the federal court in Wichita, Kansas. Transfer of all federal actions to the District of Kansas, therefore, provides a unique opportunity for the federal and Kansas state court parties to coordinate their discovery efforts. Such state-federal accommodation in discovery will significantly lessen the burdens on both courts’ judicial resources and greatly enhance the expeditious processing of all actions arising out of the crash.

It is therefore ordered that all actions on the appended Schedule A be, and the same hereby are, transferred, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1407, to the District of Kansas and assigned to the Honorable Frank G. Theis for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings with the actions pending in that district.

SCHEDULE A

District of Kansas

Marvin G. Brown, Sr. v. Jack Richards Aircraft Co., Inc., et al. Civil Action No. W — 4749

Howard L. Johnson v. Jack Richards Aircraft Co., Inc., et al. Civil Action No. W — 4750

Robert B. Krueger v. Jack Richards Aircraft Co., Inc., et al. Civil Action No. W — 4751

Milton B. Moore, Sr. v. Jack Richards Aircraft Co., Inc., et al. Civil Action No. W — 4752

Thomas B. Owen, Sr. v. Jack Richards Aircraft Co., Inc., et al. Civil Action No. W — 4753

Mary P. Stines v. Jack Richards Aircraft Co., Inc., et al. Civil Action No. W — 4754

Jack R. Vetter, Sr. v. Jack Richards Aircraft Co., Inc., et al. Civil Action No. W — 4755

Southern District of Ohio

Hallie Eugenia Robinson, etc. v. Civil Action United States of America No. 4265

Western District of Oklahoma

Leo Loy Roberts, etc. v. The United States of America Civ-72-332

Rick Stevens, et al. v. The United States of America Civ.-72-233