Blazevska v. Raytheon Aircraft Co.

• Decision Date: 10 April 2008
• Docket Number: No. 06-16028.,06-16028.
• Parties: Slobodanka BLAZEVSKA, surviving spouse and personal representative of the Estate of Risto Blazevski, deceased; Eleonora Blazevska, surviving child of Risto Blazevski, deceased; Dimitar Blazevski, surviving child of Risto Blazevski, deceased; Dragan Boskovik, as surviving spouse and personal representative of the Estate of Dimka Ilkovka-Boskovik, deceased, and as guardian of their minor child Ana Boskovik; Veselin Boskovik, surviving child of Dimka Ilkovka-Boskovik, deceased; Biljana Bozinovska, as surviving spouse and personal representative of the Estate of Ace Bozinovski, deceased and as guardian of their two minor children, Stefan and Andrej Bozinovski; Vesena Ivanoska, as surviving spouse and personal representative of the Estate of Branko Ivanovski, deceased and as guardian of their two minor children, Marta Ivanovska and Andrej Ivanovski; Mirjana Glavcic-Krestevska, as surviving spouse and personal representative of the Estate of Mile Krestevski, deceased; Vladimir Krestevski, surviving child of Mile Krestevski, deceased; Violeta Markovska, as surviving spouse and personal representative of the Estate of Marko Markovski, deceased; Zoran Markovski; Goran Markovski, surviving children of Marko Markovski, deceased; Vilma Trajkovska, as surviving spouse and personal representative of the Estate of Boris Trajkovski, deceased, and as guardian of their two minor children, Sara Trajkovska and Stefan Trajkovski; Zlatka Velinova, as surviving spouse and personal representative of the Estate of Boris Velinov, deceased; Jovance Velinov; Olga Velinova, surviving parent of Boris Velinov, deceased, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT COMPANY, a Kansas Corporation, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

522 F.3d 948

Slobodanka BLAZEVSKA, surviving spouse and personal representative of the Estate of Risto Blazevski, deceased; Eleonora Blazevska, surviving child of Risto Blazevski, deceased; Dimitar Blazevski, surviving child of Risto Blazevski, deceased; Dragan Boskovik, as surviving spouse and personal representative of the Estate of Dimka Ilkovka-Boskovik, deceased, and as guardian of their minor child Ana Boskovik; Veselin Boskovik, surviving child of Dimka Ilkovka-Boskovik, deceased; Biljana Bozinovska, as surviving spouse and personal representative of the Estate of Ace Bozinovski, deceased and as guardian of their two minor children, Stefan and Andrej Bozinovski; Vesena Ivanoska, as surviving spouse and personal representative of the Estate of Branko Ivanovski, deceased and as guardian of their two minor children, Marta Ivanovska and Andrej Ivanovski; Mirjana Glavcic-Krestevska, as surviving spouse and personal representative of the Estate of Mile Krestevski, deceased; Vladimir Krestevski, surviving child of Mile Krestevski, deceased; Violeta Markovska, as surviving spouse and personal representative of the Estate of Marko Markovski, deceased; Zoran Markovski; Goran Markovski, surviving children of Marko Markovski, deceased; Vilma Trajkovska, as surviving spouse and personal representative of the Estate of Boris Trajkovski, deceased, and as guardian of their two minor children, Sara Trajkovska and Stefan Trajkovski; Zlatka Velinova, as surviving spouse and personal representative of the Estate of Boris Velinov, deceased; Jovance Velinov; Olga Velinova, surviving parent of Boris Velinov, deceased, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT COMPANY, a Kansas Corporation, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 06-16028.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted February 14, 2008.

Filed April 10, 2008.

Robert J. Nelson, Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, San Francisco, CA, for the appellants.

Kirk C. Jenkins, Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold LLP, Chicago, IL, for the appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California; Phyllis J. Hamilton, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-05-04191-PJH.

Before: D.W. NELSON and HAWKINS, Circuit Judges, and ROBERT J. TIMLIN,^* Senior Judge.

D.W. NELSON, Senior Circuit Judge:

Slobodanka Blazevska and her co-appellants are the family members of eight Macedonian residents who died in a plane accident in Bosnia on February 26, 2004. The decedents, including the Macedonian president, were killed when their Beechcraft Super King Air 200 crashed into a hilltop. The plaintiffs brought a wrongful death action against Raytheon, the manufacturer of the plane. The district court granted summary judgment for the defendants, holding that plaintiffs' action was barred by the eighteen-year statute of repose in the General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994 ("GARA"). Pub.L. No. 103 298, 108 Stat. 1552(codified at 49 U.S.C. § 40101 notes). The plaintiffs appealed, arguing that the presumption against extraterritoriality precludes GARA's application in this case. We affirm the order of the district court granting summary judgment for appellee Raytheon. The presumption against extraterritoriality is not implicated in this case, so GARA bars appellants' suit.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In early 1980, appellee Raytheon Aircraft Company ("Raytheon") manufactured a Beech Super King Air 200 Aircraft in Wichita, Kansas. Around April 4, 1980, Raytheon sold the aircraft to "The Beechcraft Organization for Central Europe." Later that month, the aircraft was delivered to the Republic of Macedonia, which retained ownership of the plane until its eventual destruction.

On February 26, 2004, the aircraft departed Skopje, Macedonia, bound for Mostar, Bosnia, with the President of Macedonia and his senior advisors aboard. In a thicket of rain and fog, the plane struck a tree while attempting to land. The accident killed all nine passengers, including the two co-pilots. The Aircraft Accident Report, prepared by the Bosnia and Herzegovina Directorate of Civil Aviation, ultimately attributed the crash to pilot error.

On October 17, 2005, appellants filed a wrongful death action against Raytheon. The complaint alleged three causes of action, all under Macedonian law, claiming the aircraft was defective and not crashworthy. On November 10, 2005, Raytheon filed its answer, denying the allegations and raising a number of affirmative defenses. Raytheon contended that the action was barred by GARA's eighteen-year statute of repose. The parties agreed to proceed with limited discovery until the district court resolved the issue of whether GARA applied. On February 15, 2006, Raytheon filed a motion for summary judgment, again asserting that GARA required a finding in its favor. On May 12, 2006, the district court issued an order granting Raytheon's motion for summary judgment, holding that GARA precluded the plaintiffs' claims. On that same day, the court entered judgment in favor of Raytheon on all claims.

JURISDICTION

Federal diversity jurisdiction is proper under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(2). Appellants are all Macedonian citizens, appellee is a Kansas corporation, and the amount in controversy exceeds seventy-five thousand dollars. This court has jurisdiction to review the final judgment of a district court under 28 U.S.C. § 1291.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

We review de novo a district court's grant of summary judgment that was based upon uncontested facts and a disputed construction of a federal statute. Boyd v. United States, 762 F.2d 1369, 1371 (9th Cir.1985). We must determine whether the district court correctly applied the relevant substantive law. Lively v. Wild Oats Markets, Inc., 456 F.3d 933, 938 (9th Cir.2006) ("We also review de novo a district court's interpretation and construction of a federal statute."); Olsen v. Idaho State Bd. of Med., 363 F.3d 916, 922(9th Cir.2004).

DISCUSSION

I. Legal Standard — GARA

GARA is a statute of repose that limits aircraft manufacturers' liability to eighteen years after an aircraft is delivered. GARA §§ 2(a), 3(3). In 1994, Congress enacted this measure to limit the "long tail of liability" imposed upon the manufacturers of general aviation aircraft. Lyon v. Agusta S.P.A., 252 F.3d 1078, 1084 (9th Cir.2001) (citing H.R.Rep. No. 103-525, pt. I, at 1-4 (1994), as reprinted in 1994 U.S.C.C.A.N. 1638, 1638-41). Congress was "deeply concerned about the enormous product liability costs" suffered by manufacturers. Id. The pertinent sections of GARA provide:

Section 2. Time limitations on civil actions against aircraft manufacturers.

(a) In general. — Except as provided in subsection (b), no civil action for damages for death or injury to persons or damage to property arising out of an accident involving a general aviation aircraft may be brought against the manufacturer of the aircraft or the manufacturer of any new component, system, subassembly, or other part of the aircraft, in its capacity as a manufacturer if the accident occurred —

(1) after the applicable limitation period beginning on —

(A) the date of delivery of the aircraft to its first purchaser or lessee, if delivered directly from the manufacturer; or

(B) the date of first delivery of the aircraft to a person engaged in the business of selling or leasing such aircraft....

Section 3. Other definitions.

For the purposes of this Act —

. . . .

(3) the term "limitation period" means 18 years with respect to general aviation aircraft and the components, systems, subassemblies, and other parts of such aircraft....

GARA §§ 2(a), (3)(3).

The statute bars suits stemming from accidents that occurred more than eighteen years after the initial transfer of an aircraft. Lyon, 252 F.3d at 1084("If [the accident] occurs on the day after the GARA period runs, no action whatsoever is possible."). The statute acts not just as an affirmative defense, but instead "creates an explicit statutory right not to stand trial." Estate of Kennedy v. Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc., 283 F.3d 1107, 1110 (9th Cir.2002).

The accident at issue here occurred in 2004, more than eighteen years after appellee delivered the plane to the Macedonian government in 1980. Accordingly, Raytheon argues that GARA bars appellants' claims. Appellants counter that, in accord with the presumption against extraterritoriality, GARA's time bar should not apply under the circumstances of this case.

II. The Presumption Against Extraterritoriality

"The Supreme Court and this court have adhered to the longstanding principle of American law that legislation is presumed to apply only within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States unless the contrary affirmative intention of Congress is clearly expressed." ARC Ecology v. U.S. Dep't of the Air Force, 411 F.3d 1092, 1097 (9th Cir.2005) (citing EEOC v. Arabian American Oil Co., 499 U.S. 244, 248, 111 S.Ct. 1227, 113 L.Ed.2d 274 (1991) (hereinafter "Aramco")); see also Smith v. United States, 507 U.S. 197, 203-04, 113 S.Ct. 1178, 122 L.Ed.2d 548 (1993) (holding that the presumption applied to preclude application of the Federal Tort Claims Act's ("FTCA") waiver of sovereign immunity for a claim arising in Antarctica).

Under this presumption, a law passed by Congress is generally assumed to apply only to regulate conduct occurring within the boundaries of the United States. See Pakootas v. Teck Cominco Metals, Ltd., 452 F.3d 1066, 1077-79(9th Cir.2006); Envtl. Def. Fund, Inc. v. Massey, 986 F.2d 528, 530-31 (D.C.Cir.1993). The presumption "serves to protect against unintended clashes between our laws and those of other nations which could result in international discord." Aramco, 499 U.S. at 248, 111 S.Ct. 1227 (internal quotation marks omitted). In order to overcome the presumption, a party must show a clear expression of congressional intent to apply a statute beyond American soil. Id. at 258, 111 S.Ct. 1227.

In Aramco, the...