Montgomery v. Airbus Helicopters, Inc.

• Citation: 414 P.3d 824
• Decision Date: 06 March 2018
• Docket Number: No. 114,045,114,045
• Parties: Anke MONTGOMERY, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Mark Montgomery, Deceased; EagleMed, L.L.C.; a Delaware Corporation, and Starr Indemnity and Liability Company, a Texas Corporation and Domiciliary, Plaintiffs/Appellants, v. AIRBUS HELICOPTERS, INC., a Delaware Corporation; And Soloy, LLC., Defendants/Appellees, and Honeywell International, Inc., Defendant.
• Court: Supreme Court of Oklahoma

414 P.3d 824

Anke MONTGOMERY, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Mark Montgomery, Deceased; EagleMed, L.L.C.; a Delaware Corporation, and Starr Indemnity and Liability Company, a Texas Corporation and Domiciliary, Plaintiffs/Appellants,

v. AIRBUS HELICOPTERS, INC., a Delaware Corporation; And Soloy, LLC., Defendants/Appellees,andHoneywell International, Inc., Defendant.

No. 114,045

Supreme Court of Oklahoma.

FILED March 6, 2018

Robert D. Tomlinson, Ross N. Chaffin, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Timothy A. Loranger (pro hac vice), Los Angeles, California, for Plaintiff/Appellant Anke Montgomery.

Craig Allen Fitzgerald, Steven J. Adams, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Gary Don Swaim (pro hac vice), Dallas, Texas, for Plaintiffs/Appellants EagleMed, L.L.C. and Star Indemnity and Liability Company.

Mark R. McPhail, Alex M. Sharp, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Eric C. Strain (pro hac vice), San Francisco, California, for Defendant/Appellee Airbus Helicopters, Inc.

Brock C. Bowers, Katie R. McCune, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Geffrey W. Anderson (pro hac vice), Jonathan W. Harrison (pro hac vice), Fort Worth, Texas, for Defendant/Appellee Soloy, L.L.C.

KAUGER, J.:

¶1 We granted certiorari to address whether the defendants/appellees whose products were used to make an ambulance helicopter had sufficient minimum contacts with the State of Oklahoma in order to establish personal jurisdiction over them after the helicopter crashed in Oklahoma, killing two Oklahoma residents. We hold that they do not.

FACTS

¶2 This cause arises from an ambulance helicopter crash (accident helicopter), on February 22, 2013, shortly after takeoff in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The pilot, Mark Montgomery (pilot), and his crew, responded to an emergency medical transport call at Integris Baptist Hospital in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma for Watonga, Oklahoma. The crash killed two Oklahoma residents who were onboard the helicopter: the pilot, and the flight nurse, Chris Denning. The onboard flight paramedic, Billy Wynne, survived with severe injuries which resulted in amputation. The crash destroyed the helicopter. Allegedly, the crash was witnessed by dozens of Oklahoma residents.

¶3 EagleMed, L.L.C. (EagleMed), a Delaware incorporated L.L.C. with its principal place of business in Wichita, Kansas, employed the Oklahoma pilot and the crew. EagleMed operates a helicopter ambulance service for the region. The crash was allegedly caused by an air intake defect which allowed ice to accumulate in the air inlet and enter the compressor, causing the engine to flame out and crash.

¶4 Airbus Helicopters SAS, a French Company, designed and manufactured the accident helicopter in France, and sold it to the appellee, Airbus Helicopters, Inc. (Airbus), a Grand Prairie, Texas, company. The original engine was replaced by Honeywell International, Inc. (Honeywell) of Morristown, New Jersey, who designed and manufactured the replacement engine. An Olympia, Washington company, Soloy, L.L.C. (Soloy), provided the engineering and design for installation of the engine. Starr Indemnity and Liability Company (Starr) insured the helicopter.

¶5 In 2004, Airbus sold the helicopter, an AS350B, to Ballard Aviation, Inc. d/b/a EagleMed. Airbus delivered the helicopter in an unassembled condition to Texas for shipment, but it did not make the arrangements for it to be delivered to Wichita, Kansas. Rather, the Airbus standard practice was to deliver their helicopters to their place of business in Texas, and have the buyers handle any further transportation services. The purchase agreement between EagleMed and Airbus contained a forum selection and choice of law clause regarding any litigation to take place in Texas.¹

¶6 According to Airbus, it: 1) does not conduct any business activities in Oklahoma; 2) is not registered to do business in Oklahoma, nor does it own any real or personal property in Oklahoma; 3) does not keep any officers, directors, employees, or agents in Oklahoma; and 4) does not hold any bank accounts or have any telephone listings in Oklahoma. However, Airbus did know that this helicopter would be going to EagleMed's headquarters in Wichita and purportedly knew it would be used in Oklahoma.

¶7 On July 21, 2008, four years after EagleMed purchased the helicopter from Airbus, Soloy sold and shipped an "engine conversion kit" to EagleMed at their headquarters in Wichita, Kansas, which was installed shortly thereafter. According to Soloy, it did not specifically design its conversion kit for the Oklahoma market, nor did it direct advertising or marketing materials specifically to Oklahoma. Soloy has no offices, agents, employees, or property in Oklahoma nor does it distribute to Oklahoma.²

¶8 In 2009, EagleMed sold the helicopter to Wells Fargo Equipment Finance, Inc. who leased it back to EagleMed. EagleMed is an established Oklahoma air ambulance service. It is licensed by the Oklahoma Secretary of State and the Department of Health. It has five Oklahoma "bases," serving the entire state. At the time it purchased the helicopter, EagleMed had two Oklahoma "bases" and eight helicopters. The purchase was specifically for the establishment of its third base with Airbus' alleged knowledge.

¶9 EagleMed operates out of three states, but services five states: Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, and Nebraska. The main base in Wichita advertised that it could service the northern part of Oklahoma in less than 24 minutes. Airbus has offered continuous technical support to EagleMed regarding their helicopters, but none of the communication was directed to a base in Oklahoma. All communication was made with the main base in Wichita, even though it is likely that some of the communication regarded helicopters which were located in Oklahoma.

¶10 On August 16, 2013, the flight nurse's family (Denning family) sued Airbus, Airbus SAS, Soloy, and Honeywell for wrongful death, negligence, and products liability in the 141st District Court in Tarrant County, Texas. On April 7, 2014, the pilot's widow intervened alleging similar claims. On June 23, 2014, EagleMed also intervened in the Texas lawsuit, alleging claims for loss of the helicopter and other damages. The flight paramedic filed a separate claim without joining the other plaintiffs. In December of 2014, the defendants in the Texas lawsuit filed counterclaims against the pilot, arguing that the pilot's operational errors caused or contributed to the crash.

¶11 On February 13, 2015, the pilot's widow, EagleMed, and Starr, filed a products liability/negligence lawsuit against Airbus, Honeywell, and Soloy, in the District Court of Oklahoma County, Oklahoma. The same day, the widow and EagleMed filed a notice of non-suit in the Texas action which the Texas Court granted on February 25, 2015.³ They alleged that venue was proper in Oklahoma, because the accident occurred in Oklahoma County and because the defendants/appellees could properly be sued in Oklahoma County.

¶12 On March 23, 2015, Airbus and Soloy filed motions to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction pursuant to 12 O.S. § 2012(B)(2)⁴ and under the doctrine of forum non conveniens .⁵ Honeywell filed a motion to dismiss under the doctrine of forum non conveniens , but it did not raise the defense of personal jurisdiction under 12 O.S. § 2012(B)(2), thus waiving the issue.⁶ After additional briefings, a hearing was held on May 1, 2015, in which Montgomery's request for additional time to conduct jurisdictional discovery was denied.

¶13 In an order filed May 20, 2015, the trial court granted motions to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction to Airbus and Soloy, but it did not make any finding regarding forum non conveniens . The court determined that there was not enough evidence to establish personal jurisdiction and that additional discovery would be unnecessary. The claims against defendant Honeywell were stayed, pending resolution of an appeal.⁷ The Court of Civil Appeals affirmed the trial court. We granted certiorari on April 24, 2017.

THE TRIAL COURT DID NOT ERR IN GRANTING THE MOTION TO DISMISS FOR LACK OF PERSONAL JURISDICTION.

¶14 Airbus and Soloy argue that they have no contacts with Oklahoma which would allow an Oklahoma court to assert jurisdiction over them. The pilot's widow, EagleMed, and Star Indemnity argue that because Airbus and Soloy sold their product to a company that has, and continues to use, millions of dollars worth of their products in Oklahoma. They also argue that because of these sales, Airbus and Soloy should be subject to Oklahoma jurisdiction. The record gives no indication that Airbus continued to earn revenue from this particular helicopter after its initial sale to EagleMed. In fact, at the time of the crash, the helicopter was not even owned by EagleMed.

¶15 In personam jurisdiction is the power to render a binding judgment against a defendant.⁸ When a plaintiff's cause of action does not arise directly from a defendant's forum related activities, a court could nonetheless maintain general personal jurisdiction over the defendant based on the defendant's business contacts with the forum state.⁹ However, general jurisdiction has been modified by the United States Supreme Court in DaimlerAG v. Bauman, 571 U.S. 117, 134 S.Ct. 746, 187 L.Ed.2d 624 (2014) which reaffirmed that general jurisdictions exists only over a defendant who is at "home" within a state.¹⁰

¶16 It is undisputed that general jurisdiction does not exist against either defendant in this cause. Even if it were not agreed to be a non-issue, the facts of this cause could not pass the Daimler, supra, test for general jurisdiction. Nevertheless, if a defendant has purposefully directed activities at the residents of the forum, and the litigation results from alleged injuries that arise out of or relate to those activities, specific jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant may exist unless jurisdiction would be unreasonable or would offend the traditional notions of...