SIKORSKY CANNOT LITIGATE FATAL ACCIDENT LAWSUIT ABROAD
November 27, 2024
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A federal judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania recently ruled that Sikorsky Aircraft, an American aircraft manufacturer, must litigate a lawsuit filed by the estates of Canadian military personnel at home rather than abroad. In July 2023, the families and estates of deceased Canadian Air Force personnel filed a lawsuit against Sikorsky relating to a fatal helicopter crash in Greece. While Sikorsky initially sought to dismiss the lawsuit on forum non conveniens grounds by arguing that Nova Scotia was a more convenient forum, the Court sided with the family members of the deceased. Since the purportedly defective helicopter was designed, manufactured, and upgraded in Pennsylvania and witnesses who worked on the flight control system reside in the state, the Court reasoned that both public and private factors favor keeping the case in the United States.
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