LNS Enters. LLC v. Cont'l Motors, Inc.

LNS Enters. LLC v. Cont'l Motors, Inc.

Opinion

GILMAN, Circuit Judge:

This appeal involves claims against Defendants Continental Motors, Inc. (Continental) and Textron Aviation, Inc. (Textron) arising from a nonfatal airplane crash. Plaintiffs—the pilot, his wife, and two companies controlled by the couple—challenge the district court's decision to grant Continental's and Textron's motions to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction and to deny Plaintiffs' request for jurisdictional discovery.

At this point in the litigation, Plaintiffs have conceded that Arizona does not have general jurisdiction over either Defendant. Plaintiffs have also failed to establish a prima facie case of specific jurisdiction over either Defendant [*3]  because Plaintiffs have not demonstrated that Defendants had sufficient minimum contacts with Arizona that are related to Plaintiffs' claims. And Plaintiffs' reasons for seeking jurisdictional discovery with regard to Defendants' contacts with Arizona were properly deemed insufficient because the request amounted to nothing more than a hunch that discovery might reveal facts relevant to the jurisdictional analysis. We therefore AFFIRM the district court's decision to dismiss this case for lack of personal jurisdiction and to deny the request for jurisdictional discovery.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs purchased what they describe as a "2006 Cessna Columbia" aircraft in 2016, equipped with a Continental engine, from an unidentified individual. The aircraft was used by Plaintiffs to fly within Arizona for work. On July 31, 2017, Sonoma Oral and Facial Surgery's principal, Peter Spanganberg, was flying the plane when he was forced to make an emergency crash landing during the flight. As a result of the emergency landing, the aircraft suffered significant structural damage and the complete loss of its engine, but fortunately no one was killed in the crash.

Plaintiffs allege that various actors [*4]  were involved in the manufacture and maintenance of the aircraft. The actors relevant to this appeal are Continental and Textron. Continental manufactured an engine in 2006 and shipped it to Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation (Columbia) in Oregon, where it was installed on the aircraft in question. Also in 2006, Cessna Aircraft Company (Cessna) acquired certain assets from Columbia, which was the original manufacturer of the Plaintiffs' aircraft. Cessna did not assume Continental's liabilities apart from the express, written aircraft warranties still in effect at the time of acquisition. In 2014, Cessna became a subsidiary of Textron, and Cessna was fully merged into Textron in 2017.

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