Campbell v. Parker-Hannifin Corp.

• Citation: 69 Cal.App.4th 1534,82 Cal.Rptr.2d 202
• Decision Date: 21 January 1999
• Docket Number: PARKER-HANNIFIN,No. A078285,A078285
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: , 99 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 1296, 1999 Daily Journal D.A.R. 1603 Elizabeth Rosemary CAMPBELL et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants, v.CORPORATION et al., Defendants and Respondents.

Page 202

82 Cal.Rptr.2d 202

69 Cal.App.4th 1534, 99 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 1296,

1999 Daily Journal D.A.R. 1603

Elizabeth Rosemary CAMPBELL et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. PARKER-HANNIFIN CORPORATION et al., Defendants and Respondents.

No. A078285.

Court of Appeal, First District, Division 2, California.

Jan. 21, 1999.

Review Denied April 21, 1999.

Gary L. Simms, Ashland, Oregon, James Paul, Collins, O'Reilly & Collins, Menlo Park, CA, attorneys for plaintiff and appellant Elizabeth Rosemary Campbell.

Thomas Knoderer Hammitt, Kenney & Markowitz, San Francisco, CA, attorneys for defendant and respondent Parker-Hannifin Corporation.

Robert Charles Gebhardt, Bronson, Bronson & McKinnon, San Francisco, CA, attorneys for defendant and respondent Cessna Aircraft Company.

Peter Axelrod, Reid, Axelrod, Ruane & McCormack, San Rafael, CA, attorneys for defendant and respondent Instrument Pro, Inc.

KLINE, P.J.

Plaintiff Elizabeth Rosemary Campbell and 19 other heirs of victims of a fatal airplane crash in Australia appeal from the trial court's ruling granting summary judgment in favor of defendant Cessna Aircraft Company and staying the action as to defendants Parker-Hannifin Corporation, Instrument Pro, Inc., and Brent's International, Inc. on grounds of forum non conveniens. Appellants contend the trial court abused its discretion in granting the forum non conveniens motion, and it erred in granting summary judgment for Cessna because there were triable issues of fact regarding the applicability of exceptions to the federal statute of limitations.

We find no abuse of discretion in the trial court's ruling staying the action as to Parker-Hannifin Corporation, Instrument Pro, Inc., and Brent's International, Inc. based on the doctrine of forum non conveniens. We also affirm the ruling granting summary judgment in favor of Cessna Aircraft Company.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Factual Background

The airplane that crashed was a Cessna twin-engine model 310R, serial number 310R0130, manufactured at Cessna's Kansas plant in 1975. The aircraft included gyroscopic flight instruments that were powered by vacuum pumps. The two original vacuum pumps installed by Cessna were manufactured by Airborne Manufacturing Company, a predecessor-in-interest to respondent Parker-Hannifin and bore model number 212CW. The original vacuum pumps were replaced sometime after 1984 with other model 212CW pumps made by Parker-Hannifin.

Cessna first sold and delivered the aircraft in March 1975 to a Georgia-based aviation company. The aircraft was owned and operated in the United States for 19 years until 1994, when it was purchased by Donald Henry Knight for an Australian air-charter service and exported to Australia.

Respondent Brent's International, Inc., a California corporation based in Hayward, modified the aircraft to equip it for the long-distance flight to Australia. It obtained from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) the requisite Special Airworthiness Certificate, which was issued in Oakland on June 30, 1994. In order to obtain the certificate, Brent's purchased additional navigational equipment for the aircraft from respondent Instrument Pro, a California corporation based in Oakland. The additional equipment included (1) a horizon gyro, serial number 40663, "Aeritalia (Cessna);" and (2) an altimeter, United Instruments, serial number J5267. Both invoices stated that the instruments had been overhauled and certified and were covered by Instrument Pro's six-month warranty on parts and workmanship.

The aircraft was flown to Australia in July 1994, where it was registered to its new owner, Donald Knight, on September 1, 1994. Knight was a highly experienced pilot who owned and operated Knight-Air Narrandera, an air-taxi service in New South Wales. Knight's total flight time was 20,760 hours, with about 2,600 hours in the Cessna Model 310.

The fatal crash occurred the night of July 28, 1995, when Knight was flying three passengers home to Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. He was piloting the aircraft under Instrument Flight Rules. Rain was reported in the area. Knight's wife called a mobile phone aboard the aircraft and spoke with him. He told her: "I am in big trouble--I've lost my gyros." Immediately after this phone call, he advised air traffic control that he was at 9,500 feet heading for Wagga Wagga. He did not mention any problem. The plane crashed a short time later. Witnesses on the ground heard an airplane and a bang or a loud noise, and then saw "a very bright light in the sky." No one reported seeing the crash. Remnants of the bodies and the aircraft were found strewn across a field.

The crash was investigated by Australian authorities and by Cessna. The Australian Bureau of Air Safety (BASI) determined: "The circumstances of this accident are consistent with a loss of control by the pilot in command during flight, which resulted in the structural limitations of the aircraft being exceeded. [p] Significant factors contributing to the loss of control included: [p] The probable in-flight failure of both engine driven vacuum pumps, resulting in a loss of supply to the air driven gyroscopic flight instruments. [p] Erroneous aircraft attitude and directional indications from the gyroscopic flight instruments, which adversely affected the ability of the pilot in command to safely control the aircraft by sole reference to the remaining flight instruments. [p] Adverse meteorological conditions which prevented the pilot in command continuing the flight by visual reference to the natural horizon, or other external features, following the loss of credible indications from the gyroscopic flight instruments."

Procedural Background

The multiple wrongful death actions were filed as a single complaint on July 24, 1996. Parker-Hannifin, Brent's International, and Instrument Pro filed forum non conveniens motions as their first responsive pleadings under Code of Civil Procedure section 418.10. Shortly afterward, Cessna filed a motion for summary judgment under the General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994 (GARA), Public Law 103-298. (49 U.S.C.A. § 40101 note.) GARA imposes an 18-year federal statute of repose for suits against the manufacturer of an aircraft.

The court ordered a continuance for further briefing by the moving parties on the question of whether Australia would accept jurisdiction of the case and the defendants. Parker-Hannifin, Brent's International, and Instrument Pro filed additional briefing on the question, which included detailed affidavits by Australian counsel. At the same time, appellants' counsel filed extensive briefs in opposition to the Cessna summary judgment motion, which included a number of documents obtained through investigation and discovery. These included reports from the accident investigations performed by Cessna and by Australian aviation authorities, responses to appellants' written discovery, and transcripts of depositions taken.

On February 20, 1997, a week after hearing argument on the motions, the court issued a minute order granting the motions to stay for forum non conveniens and Cessna's motion for summary judgment.

The orders granting the motions for forum non conveniens contained stipulations that: (1) respondents submit to personal jurisdiction in Australia upon the filing of a wrongful death action there; (2) the applicable statute of limitations in Australia be tolled from the date the complaint was filed in the Alameda County Superior Court to the entry date of the order; (3) compliance by respondents with discovery orders in the action in Australia; (4) making witnesses available at respondents' own cost for the giving of testimony; and (5) satisfaction of any judgment or settlement of the action in Australia.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Forum Non Conveniens

Appellants contend the court abused its discretion in granting the motions for forum non conveniens. The standards for determining whether to grant a forum non conveniens motion are set forth in Stangvik v. Shiley Inc. (1991) 54 Cal.3d 744, 751, 1 Cal.Rptr.2d 556, 819 P.2d 14: "In determining whether to grant a motion based on forum non conveniens, a court must first determine whether the alternate forum is a 'suitable' place for trial. If it is, the next step is to consider the private interests of the litigants and the interests of the public in retaining the action for trial in California. The private interest factors are those that make the trial and the enforceability of the ensuing judgment expeditious and relatively inexpensive, such as the ease of access to sources of proof, the cost of obtaining attendance of witnesses, and the availability of compulsory process for attendance of unwilling witnesses. The public interest factors include avoidance of overburdening local courts with congested calendars, protecting the interests of potential jurors so that they are not called upon to decide cases in which the local community has little concern, and weighing the competing interests of California and the alternate jurisdiction in the litigation."

"On a motion for forum non conveniens, the defendant, as the moving party, bears the burden of proof. The granting or denial of such a motion is within the trial court's discretion, and substantial deference is accorded its determination in this regard." (Stangvik v. Shiley Inc., supra, 54 Cal.3d 744, 1 Cal.Rptr.2d 556, 819 P.2d 14.)

In Stangvik, the plaintiffs were residents of Norway and Sweden who brought suit in California against a California corporation for the wrongful death of their decedents as a result of allegedly defective heart valves. Norway and Sweden were suitable alternative forums since the defendant had stipulated it would submit to jurisdiction and to the tolling of the statute of limitations during the pendency of the actions in California. (Id. at p. 752, 1 Cal.Rptr.2d 556, 819 P.2d 14.) The court weighed the private and public...