Forum Non Conveniens and Turkey Plane Crash
In 2007, an Atlasjet Airlines plane crashed into a mountain located in Turkey. Relatives of 32 victims filed a products liability suit in Cook county Circuit Court against the airplane’s manufactures, Boeing, McDonnell Douglas Corporation, and Honeywell International Incorporated. 30 of the 32 victims were Turkish residents. Defendants filed a motion to dismiss on grounds of forum non conveniens. They argued that Turkey would be more convenient or even Washington state where Honeywell is located. The circuit court held that private and public interest factors did not favor dismissal and two of the defendants were headquartered in Chicago. The evidence and witnesses were also scattered through the US. The crash site was less important because jurors do not need to see the site to resolve a products liability claim. The court also pointed out that the Turkish court may decline jurisdiction over the defendants, Turkish law does not provide for pre-trial discovery, and the Turkish law requires a claimant pay a court fee of 5.4% of the amount of the substantive claim. The defendants appealed.
The 1st District Appellate Court agreed and affirmed. Yavuz Arik, etc. v. The Boeing Co., et al., 2011 IL App (1st) 100750-U. The court stated that all of the evidence related to design, manufacture and assembly of the aircraft and its warning system is in the U.S. Product liability actions are not localized actions, rather they have international implications. Americans just as Turks have an interest in the safety of Boeing airplanes. Furthermore, investigation of the crash took place in the United States and Germany but not Turkey. As the evidence is scattered throughout different states and countries, no one forum is more convenient then the other.
