In re Air Crash Disaster Near Chicago, Illinois on May 25, 1979

644 F.2d 594 (1981)

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
I
From our private database of 46,200+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

In re Air Crash Disaster Near Chicago, Illinois on May 25, 1979

United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
644 F.2d 594 (1981)

DM

Facts

On May 25, 1979, American Airlines (AA) (defendant) Flight 191 crashed in Illinois en route from Chicago to Los Angeles, killing 273 people. McDonnell Douglas Corporation (MDC) (defendant), which was headquartered in Missouri, had designed and manufactured the plane in California. AA, which was headquartered in New York, had maintained the plane in Oklahoma. Parties affected by the crash (plaintiffs), who resided in various jurisdictions, filed 118 wrongful death actions in Illinois, California, New York, Michigan, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. Plaintiffs alleged that MDC was at fault in its design and manufacture of the plane, and that AA had failed to adequately maintain it. Compensatory and punitive damages were sought. Cases were consolidated for pretrial proceedings in the Northern District of Illinois. Defendants moved to strike claims for punitive damages. The district court struck the punitive damages claims against AA but allowed those against MDC to stand. Plaintiffs and MDC appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Sprecher, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 780,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 780,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,200 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 780,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,200 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Conflict of Laws

Key Terms