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08-3823-cv In re Air Crash Near Peixoto De Azeveda, Brazil, on September 29, 2006



### UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS F OR 

### T HE 

### S ECOND 

### C IRC UIT 

### SUMMARY ORDER

R ULI NGS BY SU MMA RY ORD ER DO NOT HAVE PRE CED ENT IAL EF FEC T . C ITA TIO N TO SUMMA RY ORDE RS FILE D A FTE R JANU ARY 1, 2007, IS PERM ITT ED AND IS GOV ERN ED BY THIS CO URT ’ S L OCA L R ULE 32.1 AN D F EDE RAL R ULE OF A PPE LLA TE P ROC EDU RE 32.1. I N A BRI EF OR OTH ER PAP ER IN WHI CH A LIT IGANT CIT ES A S UMMARY OR DER , IN EACH PARA GRA PH IN W HIC H ACI TAT ION AP PEA RS , AT LE AST ONE CIT ATI ON MUS T E ITH ER BE TO THE F EDE RAL A PPE NDI X OR BE AC COM PAN IED BY TH E N OTA TIO N : “( SUMMAR Y O RDE R ).” APA RTY CIT ING A SUMMAR Y O RDE R M UST SE RVE A COP Y O F T HAT SUMMAR Y O RDE R T OGE THE R W ITH TH E P APE R I N W HIC H T HE SUMMAR Y O RDE R I S CIT ED ON ANY PA RTY NO T R EPR ESE NTE D B Y C OU NSE L U NLE SS THE SU MMA RY ORD ER IS AVA ILA BLE IN AN EL ECT RON IC DAT ABA SE WHI CH IS PUB LIC LY ACC ESS IBL E W ITH OUT PA YME NT OF FEE ( SUC H A S T HE DAT ABA SE AVA ILA BLE AT HT TP :// WWW . CA 2. USC OUR TS . GOV / ). I F N O C OPY IS SE RVE D B Y REASO N OF THE AVAI LAB ILI TY OF THE ORD ER ON S UCH A DAT ABA SE , TH E C ITA TIO N M UST IN CLU DE REF ERE NCE TO THA T D ATA BAS E AND THE DO CKE T N UMB ER OF THE CA SE IN WHI CH THE OR DERWA S E NTE RED .



### At a stated Term of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, held at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse, 500 Pearl Street, in the City of New York, on the 2 day of December, two thousand and nine. nd



### Present: JOSEPH M. McLAUGHLIN,

PIERRE N. LEVAL, RICHARD C. WESLEY,

Circuit Judges .

________________________________________________ LLERAS, ET AL., 06 Civ. 6083; DE SOUZA LEMOS, 07 Civ. 2031; ABREU, 07 Civ. 2585; SWENSSON DE MATTOS, 07 Civ. 2590; DA SILVA, 07 Civ. 2975; RODRIGUES, 07 Civ. 2976; RODRIGUES, 07 Civ. 2977; FALCAO, 07 Civ. 2978; BONAROSKI, 07 Civ. 2981; ACKER, 07 Civ. 2982; SILVA, 07 Civ. 2986; AZEVEDO, 07 Civ. 2987; RODRIGUES, 07 Civ. 2989; RODRIGUES, 07 Civ. 2990; RODRIGUES, 07 Civ. 2997; CALANDRINI, 07 Civ. 2996; QUEIROZ, BARRETO, 07 Civ. 3005; 07 Civ. 2999; LINS, 07 Civ. 3004; BATALHA, 07 Civ. 3012; MICHEL, 07 Civ. 3016; GUIDI, 07 Civ. 3017; CALANDRINI, 07 Civ. 3018; CUSTODIO, 07 Civ. 3019; AMORIM, 07 Civ. 3023; BRESSAN, 07 Civ. 3025; MURTA, 07 Civ. 3026; PANIZZI, 07 Civ. 3027; FREIXO, ET AL., 07 Civ. 2979; TORRES,The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation transferred all cases * filed in United States district courts arising from the subject crash to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. See 28 U.S.C. § 1407; In re Air Crash Near Peixoto de Azeveda, Brazil on Sept. 29, 2006 , 493 F. Supp. 2d 1374 (Jud. Pan. Mult. Litig. 2007). District court docket numbers are included in the caption for purposes of clarity. The Clerk of the Court is directed to amend the official caption as set forth above. 

### 2 07 Civ. 3039; SABELLI, 07 Civ. 3030; LAGES, 07 Civ. 3031; ARRUDA, 07 Civ. 3032; ASSIS, 07 Civ. 3035; COLOGNESE, 07 Civ. 3041; REIS, 07 Civ. 3042; CARVALHO, 07 Civ. 3038; RICKLI, 07 Civ. 3911; SILVA, 07 Civ. 4403; PEREIRA, 07 Civ. 4404, SALVINI, 07 Civ. 4405; BARRETO, 07 Civ. 4406; NUNES, 07 Civ. 4407; CELESTINO DE SOUZA, 08 Civ. 0064; DA SILVA, 08 Civ. 1217; SOUZA, ET AL., 08 Civ. 0477, Plaintiffs-Appellants , HANCOCK, 07 Civ. 2587; NOE, 07 Civ. 2984; SILVA, 07 Civ. 3013; LUCIA MARIA CARVALHO DE SAN GERALDI DE FARIAS, 07 Civ. 3339; BRAULE, 07 Civ. 3000; NETO, 07 Civ. 3002; MIRANDA, 07 Civ. 2586; RADESCA, 07 Civ. 2974; PADILHA, 07 Civ. 3007; MARTINS BARATO, ET AL., 08 Civ. 2170; LIMA, 07 Civ. 3001; MACENA, 07 Civ. 3033; LESQUEVES, 07 Civ. 3014; DORIA, 07 Civ. 3022; GARCIA, 06 Civ. 5964; OLIVERIA, 07 Civ. 2995; BARBOSA, 07 Civ. 2998; CARVALHO, 07 Civ. 3003; MACHADO, 07 Civ. 3015; ROSA, 07 Civ. 3010; NARANJO, 07 Civ. 3024; SANTOS, 07 Civ. 3040; GONCALVES, 07 Civ. 3029; LOPES, 07 Civ. 3340, Plaintiffs,

- v. - (08-3823-cv) EXCELAIRE SERVICES INC., ET AL.; RAYTHEON COMPANY; HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL, INC.; AMAZON TECHNOLOGIES COMPANY; EMBRAER AIRCRAFT CUSTOMER SERVICES, INC.; AVIATION COMMUNICATIONS AND SURVEILLANCE SYSTEMS LLC; JAN PAUL PALADINO; LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION; JOSEPH LEPORE, Defendants-Appellees . *



### __________________________________________________

### 3

Appearing for Appellants: S TEP HEN 

### F. R OSE NTH AL 

### , Podhurst Orseck, P.A., Miami, Florida (S TEV EN 

### C RAI G 

### M ARK S 

### , R ICA RDO 

### M. M ART INE Z 

### -C ID 

### , Podhurst Orseck, P.A., Miami, Florida; R OBE RT 

### L. P ARK S 

### , Law Office of Robert L. Parks, P.L., Coral Gables, Florida; S TEV EN 

### E. F INE MANAN D 

### L EXI 

### J. H AZAMN 

### , Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann, & Bernstein LLP, New York, New York; C URT IS 

### B. M INE R 

### , Colson Hicks Eidson, Coral Gables, Florida; M ICH AEL 

### P. V ERN A 

### , Bowles & Verna LLP, Walnut Creek, California; J AME S 

### P. K REI NDL ER 

### , Kreindler & Kreindler LLP, New York, New York, on the brief ). Appearing for Appellee ExcelAire Service Inc.: A NN 

### T HORNTO N 

### F IEL D 

### , Cozen O’Connor, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Appearing for Appellee Honeywell International, Inc: E RIN 

### M. B OSMAN 

### , Morrison & Foerster LLP, San Diego, California (D ON 

### G. R USH ING 

### , Morrison & Foerster LLP, San Diego, California and Charles L. Kerr, Morrison & Foerster LLP, New York, New York, on the brief ). Appearing for Appellee Raytheon Company: E DWI N 

### J OHN 

### U, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Washington, DC (B RAN T 

### W. B ISH OP 

### , M ICH AEL 

### D. S HUM SKY 

### , Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Washington, District of Columbia, on the brief ).

### 4

Appearing for Appellee Aviation Communication & Surveillance Systems, LLP: R ALP H 

### V INC ENT 

### P AGANO 

### , Mendes & Mount LLP, New York, New York. Appearing for Appellee Lockheed Martin Corporation: C HRI STO PHE R 

### D. T HOMAS 

### , B ENJAMI N 

### R. D WYE R 

### , Nixon Peabody LLP, Rochester, New York. Appearing for Appellee Amazon Technologies Company: R AND AL 

### R. C RAF T 

### , J R 

### ., A LAN 

### D. R EIT ZFE LD 

### , Holland & Knight LLP, New York, New York. Appearing for Appellee Joseph Lepore: P AUL 

### G ALANTE 

### , Morrison & Foerster LLP, New York, New York. Appearing for Appellee Jan Paladino: G EOR GE 

### P. M C 

### K EEGAN 

### , McKeegan & Shearer P.C., New York, New York. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Cogan, J. ).

1 UPON DUE CONSIDERATION, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED, 2 AND DECREED that the judgment of the United States District 3 Court for the Eastern District of New York be AFFIRMED . 4 This multi-district litigation involves wrongful death 5 claims brought by surviving family members of passengers of 6 Gol Linhas Inteligentes S.A. Boeing 737-800 Flight 1907,

### 5 1 which crashed in the Amazon rainforest on September 29, 2 2006, killing all on board. Plaintiffs in this action are 3 Brazilian citizens and residents. The decedents they 4 represent were also Brazilian citizens and residents at the 5 time of their death. Plaintiffs appeal the grant of a 6 motion to dismiss on grounds of forum non conveniens , 7 entered on July 2, 2008. In re Air Crash Near Peixoto De 8 Azeveda, Brazil, on Sept. 29, 2006 , 574 F. Supp. 2d 272, 275 9 (E.D.N.Y. 2008). We presume the parties’ familiarity with 10 the underlying facts, the procedural history of the case, 11 and the issues on appeal. 12 For substantially the reasons stated in the decision of 13 the district court, we affirm. It is by now well14 established that “[t]he forum non conveniens determination 15 is committed to the sound discretion of the trial court.” 16 Piper Aircraft Co. v. Reyno , 454 U.S. 235, 257 (1981). We 17 will reverse “only when there has been a clear abuse of 18 discretion.” Id. When, as in this case, the “court has 19 considered all relevant public and private interest factors, 20 and where its balancing of these factors is reasonable, its 21 decision deserves substantial deference.” Id.

### 6 1 The district court properly determined the degree of 2 deference owed to Plaintiffs’ choice of forum. In re Air 3 Crash Near Peixoto , 574 F. Supp. 2d at 282; see Iragorri v. 4 United Techs. Corp. , 274 F.3d 65, 71-72 (2d Cir. 2001). The 5 district court was well within its discretion in concluding 6 that Brazil is an available and adequate alternative forum. 7 In re Air Crash Near Peixoto , 574 F. Supp. 2d at 284-85; see 8 Piper , 454 U.S. at 255 n.22. Finally, the district court 9 thoroughly assessed the private and public interest factors 10 attending a forum non conveniens determination, and properly 11 found that “the important factors of lack of jurisdiction in 12 this forum over potentially liable parties and the lack of 13 compulsory process over witnesses and evidence in Brazil, 14 together with other considerations, swing the balance 15 sufficiently to make this forum genuinely inconvenient and a 16 Brazilian forum significantly preferable.” In re Air Crash 17 Near Peixoto , 574 F. Supp. 2d at 289 (internal quotation 18 marks omitted); see also Iragorri , 274 F.3d at 73-75. 19 The district court made its dismissal on forum non 20 conveniens grounds subject to several conditions enumerated 21 in its opinion. In re Air Crash Near Peixoto , 574 F. Supp.

### 7 1 2d at 290. In addition to those conditions, which remain 2 operative, Defendants have agreed that the Pilot Defendants, 3 Joseph Lepore and Jan Paul Paladino, will submit to 4 videotaped depositions in the United States, and that 5 Defendants will not object in Brazilian proceedings to the 6 admissibility of those depositions on the basis of either 7 (1) the fact that the depositions were conducted in the 8 United States, or (2) the format of the testimony. 9 The Court has reviewed Plaintiff’s remaining arguments 10 and finds them to be without merit. Accordingly, the 11 judgment of the district court is hereby AFFIRMED . 12 13 For the Court 14 Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, Clerk 15 16 By: ______________________ 17