IN RE: Air Crash Disaster in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, on July 24, 1979

Case MDL No. 433 Document 2 Filed 05/18/15 Page 1 of 3
CL HCIAL Bre ay :
SALZEICT Ulla
FILES TELNPRR
DOCKET NO. 433 I TPP TTT	vol LO fal So IRE ;
BEFORE THE JUDICIAL PANEL ON MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATIOR A ¢ [BEET Co -
CLERC OF THE Pang +IN RE AIR CRASH DISASTER IN ST. CROIX, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS, tn o
ON JULY 24, 1979 / |	Bhs!	TRANSFER ORDER#* : Co
Presently before the Panel is a motion, pursuant to SO
28 U.S.C. §1407, brought by Puerto Rico International Airlines, Sn
Inc. (Prinair), a defendant in the five actions listed on Chl
the attached Schedule A, for transfer of the actions pending SI Lo
in the District of the Virgin Islands and the Southern District EI :
of New York to the District of Puerto Rico for coordinated Co
or consolidated pretrial proceedings with the actions pending
there.
All responding parties agree on the desirability of
or do not oppose transfer. The only dispute concerns the : )
selection of the transferee district. Plaintiffs in one
Puerto Rico action and Airport Terminal Services, Inc., Lo
a defendant in the Puerto Rico actions, join Prinair in Co
urging centralization in the District of Puerto Rico. Plaintiffs
in the New York action favor centralization in the Southern Co
District of New York.
We find that these actions involve common questions :
of fact and that centralization of the actions under Section : : So
1407 in the Southern District of New York will best serve Co
the convenience of the parties and witnesses and promote
the just and efficient conduct of this litigation.
Those parties favoring the District of Puerto Rico
as the transferee district argue chiefly that many of the
relevant documents and witnesses are located in Puerto Rico.
The New York plaintiffs, on the other hand, favor centralization Co :
in the Southern District of New York on the grounds that: :
(1) docket congestion is substantially less in the Southern oo .
District of New York than in the District of Puerto Rico
and therefore the actions could proceed more expeditiously
in the Southern District of New York; (2) New York is a
convenient location, more easily accessible to the majority
of parties than Puerto Rico; and (3) the majority of plaintiffs So .
in this litigation has chosen to file suit in the Southern ES : .
District of New York. :
*Judge Edward S. Northrop took no part in the decision of :
this matter.

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. oe
Although we are of the view that either the District
of Puerto Rico or the Southern District of New York could
@ be described as an appropriate transferee forum for this
litigation, on balance we conclude that the Southern District ——
of New York is preferable. The Southern District of New’ -
York, with a docket load per judge well over a third less
than that of the District of Puerto Rico, is in the best
position to process this litigation toward its most expeditious
conclusion. Bg
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that, pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
§1407, the actions listed on the following Schedule A and
pending in the District of Puerto Rico and the District
of the Virgin Islands be, and the same hereby are, transferred
to the Southern District of New York and, with the consent
of that court, assigned to the Honorable Edward Weinfeld
for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings with
the action pending in that district and listed on Schedule
A.
F T PANEL:
Cy
: Andrew A. Caffrey J.
® Chairman

, ° Case MDL No. 433 Document 2 Filed 05/18/15 Page 3 of 3
SCHEDULE A
MDL-433 —— In re Air Crash Disaster in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, on
July 24, 1979 . oo
: District of Virgin Islands :
Gilbert Webster, et al. v. Puerto Rico International Airlines, Inc.,’
: C.A. No. 185-79 : —
Roland Joseph	v. Puerto Rico International Airlines,
Inc., C.A. No. 75-1980
’ Southern District of New York
] Harvey Fuchs, et al. v. Puerto Rico International Airlines,
inc., C.A. No. 80 Civ 1571 oo
~ District of Puerto Rico
Braulio Lopez, et al. v. Puerto Rico International Airlines, Inc.,
: et al., C.A. No. 79-1959
Oma Loveda Rosinbaum, et al. v. Puerto Rico International Airlines, Inc.,
et al., C.A. No. 79-2455 )
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