IN RE: Helicopter Crash Near Cameron, Louisiana, on April 23, 1976

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~ SUTRA DANTE Bi
RIT eT eT
SRD
BEFORE THE JUDICIAL PANEL
ON STUED CIES
MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION
)
IN RE HELICOPTER CRASH NEAR )
CAMERON, LOUISIANA, ON ) DOCKET NO. 322
APRIL 23, 1976 )
-	1)
OPINION AND ORDER
BEFORE JOHN MINOR WISDOM, CHAIRMAN, AND EDWARD WEINFELD,
EDWINA, ROBSON, JOSEPH S. LORD, III, STANLEY A. WEIGEL,
ANDREW A. CAFFREY, AND ROY W. HARPER, JUDGES OF THE PANEL
PER CURIAM -
This litigation consists of eight actions pending in
two districts: five in the Eastern District of Louisiana,
and three in the Eastern District of Texas.
The eight actions stem from the deaths of seven
individuals in a helicopter crash on April 23, 1976, in
the Gulf of Mexico near the coasts of Texas and Louisiana.
Principal defendants include the helicopter's owner (in-
volved in all eight actions), its manufacturer (involved in
seven actions), and the employer of the decedents (involved
in four Louisiana actions and one Texas action). In each
action, plaintiffs in essence allege that defendants’
negligence caused the crash and that therefore plaintiffs
are entitled to recover damages under the Death on the High
a _—

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~ _,
Seas Act, the Jones Act and/or state wrongful death statutes,
Because it appeared that these eight actions might be
appropriate for transfer under 28 U.S.C. §1407, the Panel
issued an order to show cause why these actions should not
be transferred under Section 1407 to a single district for
coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings.
Plaintiffs in the five Louisiana actions and the defendants
that have responded favor transfer of all actions in this
litigation to the Eastern District of Louisana. Plaintiffs
in two of the Texas actions oppose transfer. Although we
recognize the existence of common questions of fact among
these actions concerning the cause or causes of the heli-
copter crash, we find that transfer under Section 1407 would
not necessarily serve the convenience of the parties and
witnesses or promote the just and efficient conduct of the
litigation. Accordingly, the order to show cause is vacated.
At the outset, we observe that the parties favoring
transfer in this litigation have focused their arguments on
why the Eastern District of Louisiana would be an appropriate
transferee forum, but have offered no argument as to whether
the eight actions involved should indeed be transferred to
a single district for coordinated or consolidated pretrial
proceedings.
1/ see Rule 8, R.P.J.P.M.L., 65 F.R.D. 253, 258-59 (1975).

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RE _ 3.
We are advised that four of the five Louisiana actions
have been consolidated and that the trial court in the con-
solidated actions has set a final pretrial conference for
mid-April and scheduled May 11, 1978, as the date for
commencement of trial. The claims in the fifth Louisiana
action are subsumed in the claims in the amended complaint
in one of the four consolidated actions. Moreover, we are
informed that one of the Texas actions is set for trial on
April 10, 1978. Regarding one of the two other Texas actions,
counsel has stated that the guestion of liability might never
arise because of important threshhold issues involving the
standing of the plaintiff parent in that action to sue and
the potentially preclusory effect of a previous settlement
agreement executed by the decedent's spouse. Transcript at
84. Under these circumstances, we cannot conclude that
transfer of this particular litigation under Section 1407
will further the purposes of the statute.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the show cause order
previously entered concerning the actions listed on the
following Schedule A be, and the same hereby is, VACATED.

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SCHEDULE A -- MDL-322
EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA Civil Action No.
Carolyn Ann Coleman v. Dolphin 77-1644-SEC.E
International, Inc., et al.
Catherine Sue Taylor v. Dolphin 77-1834-SEC.B
International Inc., et al.
Cleveland Taylor v. Dolphin 76-2573-SEC.E
International, Inc., et al.
Anna L. Ripkowski Kroll v. Petroleum 77-1645-SEC.E
Helicopters, Inc., et al.
Frieda Nell Korn Poole v. Petroleum 77-1646-SEC.E
Helicopters, Inc., et al.
EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
Jim Ailey v. Bell Helicopter S-77-31-CA
International, Inc., et al.
Mrs. Maxie Dunaway Vv. Dolphin M~77-31-CA
International, Inc., et al.
Mary E. Barger v. Petroleum B-77-180~CA
Helicopters, Inc., et al.