In re Silver Bridge Disaster, 39.

• Decision Date: 20 April 1970
• Docket Number: No. 39.,39.
• Citation: 311 F. Supp. 1345
• Parties: In re Multidistrict Litigation Arising From the SILVER BRIDGE DISASTER.
• Court: Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation

311 F. Supp. 1345

In re Multidistrict Litigation Arising From the SILVER BRIDGE DISASTER.

No. 39.

Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation.

April 20, 1970.

Before ALFRED P. MURRAH, Chairman, and JOHN MINOR WISDOM, EDWARD WEINFELD, EDWIN A. ROBSON,^* WILLIAM H. BECKER, JOSEPH S. LORD, III, and STANLEY A. WEIGEL, Judges of the Panel.

OPINION AND ORDER

PER CURIAM.

On December 15, 1967, at the height of the evening rush hour, the Silver Bridge spanning the Ohio River at Point Pleasant, West Virginia collapsed. As a result, thirty-one cars fell into the river and forty-six persons were killed. The forty-eight actions listed on Schedule A result from this tragedy. The bridge was allegedly fabricated by the American Bridge Division of the United States Steel Corporation. The J. E. Greiner Company allegedly participated in the design of the bridge as consulting engineers. They are both defendants¹ in nearly all of the actions. The United States and the State of Ohio² are defendants in certain of the actions pending in the Southern District of Ohio.

It is manifest that this multidistrict litigation involves substantial common questions of fact relating to liability and in this regard it is not unlike the typical air disaster litigation which frequently comes before the Panel. See In re Mid-Air Collision Fairland, Indiana, 309 F. Supp. 621 (JPML February 10, 1970) and cases cited therein. The dispute is therefore not whether these actions should be transferred to a single district for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings pursuant to § 1407 but rather to which district they should be transferred.

The choice is not altogether an easy one for the parties and witnesses reside on both sides of the Ohio River. Since a clear majority of the actions are now pending in the Southern District of West Virginia and most parties prefer transfer of the related actions to that district we have concluded that the Southern District of West Virginia would be the most convenient district.

At the hearing on the order to show cause, several attorneys expressed concern about the heavy dockets in both districts and we would be most reluctant to add to the burden of either Judge Christie or Judge Kinneary by giving either the added responsibility for conducting coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings in this rather large multidistrict litigation. With the typically fine cooperation of all involved we have arranged for the assignment of Judge Frank A. Kaufman of the District of Maryland to the Southern District of West Virginia for the purpose of conducting coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings.

At the hearing there was also some mention of the possible transfer of some of these actions under 28 U.S.C. § 1404 (a). As in multidistrict air disaster litigation, transfer under § 1404(a) is often desirable but the transfer of these actions for pretrial proceedings under § 1407 does not preclude later consideration by the appropriate court of transfer under § 1404(a). In re Hendersonville, North Carolina Air Disaster Litigation, 297 F.Supp. 1039 (JPML 1969) and In re Falls City, Nebraska Air Disaster Litigation, 298 F.Supp. 1323 (JPML 1969). See also In re Grain Shipment Litigation, 300 F.Supp. 1402 (JPML 1969).

It is therefore ordered that the actions listed on Schedule A pending in the Southern District of Ohio and the District of Maryland be and the same are hereby transferred to the Southern District of West Virginia for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings with the related actions already pending in that district and with the written consent of that court filed herein, all such actions are hereby assigned to the Honorable Frank A. Kaufman.

                                                SCHEDULE
                                                   A
                                        Southern District of Ohio
                      Margaret Mae Cantrell, etc. v. United States of          Civil Action
                      America, et al.                                          No. 68-337
                      John E. Halliday, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,     Civil Action
                      et al.                                                   No. 69-328
                      Noralyn A. Head, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,      Civil Action
                      et al.                                                   No. 69-329
                      Patricia K. Sims, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,     Civil Action
                      et al.                                                   No. 69-330
                      B. K. Higley, etc. v. United States Steel Corp., et al.  Civil Action
                                                                               No. 69-331
                      Hazel Cremeens, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,       Civil Action
                      et al.                                                   No. 69-332
                      Robert E. Lee, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,        Civil Action
                      et al.                                                   No. 69-333
                      Noel F. Moore, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,        Civil Action
                      et al.                                                   No. 69-334
                      Margaret Mae Cantrell, etc. v. United States of          Civil Action
                      America                                                  No. 69-340
                      Dexter Marie Counts, etc. v. United States of America    Civil Action
                                                                               No. 69-341
                      Robert E. Pullen, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,     Civil Action
                      et al.                                                   No. 69-352
                

                      Dexter Marie Counts, etc. v. United States of America,   Civil Action
                      et al.                                                   No. 69-2
                      Esther E. Reynolds, etc. v. United States of America,    Civil Action
                      et al.                                                   No. 69-255
                      Harold L. Casey, etc. v. United States of America,       Civil Action
                      et al.                                                   No. 69-350
                      Louis Leslie Sturgeon, etc. v. United States of          Civil Action
                      America, et al.                                          No. 69-384
                                          District of Maryland
                      Transport Indemnity Co., et al. v. United States         Civil Action
                      Steel Corp., et al.                                      No. 21512
                      Charles R. Fielder v. United States Steel Corp.,         Civil Action
                      et al.                                                   No. 21519
                      Herbert P. Smith, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,     Civil Action
                      et al.                                                   No. 21520
                                  Southern District of West Virginia
                      Mary Ethel Rouse, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,     Civil Action
                      et al.                                                   No. 2448
                      Nancy Bennett, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,        Civil Action
                      et al.                                                   No. 2449
                      Clara Towe, etc. v. United States Steel Corp., et al.    Civil Action
                                                                               No. 2450
                      Judy Mabe, etc. v. United States Steel Corp., et al.     Civil Action
                                                                               No. 2451
                      Marie L. Cundiff, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,     Civil Action
                      et al.                                                   No. 2452
                      Denny Armstrong, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,      Civil Action
                      et al.                                                   No. 2459
                      Paul A. Scott v. United States Steel Corp., et al.       Civil Action
                                                                               No. 2490
                      George W. Byus, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,       Civil Action
                      et al.                                                   No. 2597
                      George Turner v. United States Steel Corp., et al.       Civil Action
                                                                               No. 2598
                      Bonnie German, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,        Civil Action
                      et al.                                                   No. 2599
                      William Frederick White, etc. v. United States Steel     Civil Action
                      Corp., et al.

...