In re Aviation Products Liability Litigation
United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation
347 F. Supp. 1401 (1972)
- Written by Salina Kennedy, JD
Facts
The Allison Division of General Motors Corporation (Allison) (defendant) designed, manufactured, and oversaw the installation of allegedly defective helicopter engines. Multiple plaintiffs filed products-liability actions against Allison in several federal district courts, arising from failure of the engines. A minority of the actions named additional defendants (minority defendants), including facilities authorized to overhaul and repair the engines and manufacturers of helicopters in which the engines were installed. Plaintiffs in 12 lawsuits in seven separate districts requested transfer of the cases to a single district to streamline pretrial proceedings. These cases, dubbed the Schedule A cases, all involved the same lead plaintiffs’ counsel, and each plaintiff was the corporate owner or operator of a commercial helicopter in which an Allison engine had been installed. Each of the Schedule A cases involved claims concerning the design, manufacture, and installation of the engines and alleged damages to helicopters and to the plaintiffs’ businesses caused by crashes or emergency landings as well as business damage caused by downtime for the repair or modification of the engines. The district court also considered the transfer of eight additional cases, dubbed the Schedule B cases. These cases involved a mix of corporate plaintiffs claiming business-related damages and individual plaintiffs with personal-injury or wrongful-death claims.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Per curiam)
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