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Feltham v. Bell Helicopter Textron3/22/2001
Appellants, Kim Gertrud Irmgard Feltham, individually and as natural guardian and next friend of Graham Lloyd Feltham, and Ryan Alexander Feltham, individually and as personal representative of the estate of Steven Lloyd Feltham, and Frank Joseph Yurkowski, intervenor, appeal from the trial court's order dismissing their wrongful death action brought against Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc., (Bell Helicopter); Textron, Inc., (Textron); Hydraulic Research Textron, Inc.; Ronson Hydraulics Unit Corporation (Ronson Hydraulics); and Kaiser Aerospace & Electronics Corporation (Kaiser). Both Ronson Corporation and Ronson Hydraulics answered the suit in response to the allegations against Ronson Hydraulics. The trial court dismissed the case as to all appellees in response to Textron's and Bell Helicopter's motion to dismiss based upon the doctrine of forum non conveniens.
The appellants contend in four issues on appeal that: (1) the trial court abused its discretion in dismissing the lawsuit as to all defendants on the basis of forum non conveniens when only two of five defendants moved to dismiss on that ground; (2) there is no evidence or factually insufficient evidence that a dismissal on the ground of forum non conveniens as to the nonmoving defendants or Bell Helicopter and Textron was in the interest of justice; (3) the case should be reversed and remanded to the trial court, in light of the settlement of the intervenors' claims and the dismissal of their appeal, to determine if the dismissal of the appellants' case was in the interest of justice; and (4) the trial court erred in granting Ronson Corporation's special appearance because the evidence proved that Ronson Corporation was subject to the jurisdiction of this court under both specific and general jurisdiction theories.
We affirm because the trial court did not abuse its discretion by dismissing the appellants' claims as to Bell Helicopter and Textron on the basis of forum non conveniens, nor as to those defendants who were not parties to the motion. Because of this determination, it is unnecessary to consider the appellants' contention that the trial court erred in its ruling as to Ronson Corporation's special appearance.
The appellants are the survivors and personal representative of Steven Lloyd Feltham, who was tragically killed in the crash of a Bell 206L helicopter in January 1996. All of the appellants are Canadian residents and citizens, and the helicopter was manufactured, sold, maintained, and operated in Canada. The deceased pilot was a resident and citizen of Canada. Canadian authorities investigated the crash. The rotor system and the transmission of the helicopter were manufactured in Tarrant County. There is a dispute as to whether the servo actuator, a part of the helicopter that the appellants contend was defective, was designed in Texas or in North Carolina, but there is no dispute that it was manufactured in the United States in a state other than Texas. Bell Helicopter designed the aircraft in Texas many years ago, and there are some records and witnesses connected with that design who reside in this state, although some of these witnesses have died or are retired.
The appellants contend in issue two that the trial court abused its discretion by dismissing this case against Bell Helicopter and Textron on the ground of forum non conveniens because the evidence did not show that such a dismissal was in the interest of justice.
Texas law, as it pertains to the doctrine of forum non conveniens, is set forth in the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 71.051. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. ยง 71.051 (Vernon Supp. 2001). Subsection (a) applies to plaintiffs w
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