Boeing Lion Air Crash Cases Must Be Resolved by Admiralty Judges

The Boeing Co. succeeded Tuesday in its bid to avoid jury trials after a high-profile air disaster when the Seventh Circuit ruled lawsuits brought by families of victims must be heard in admiralty courts, which don’t use juries.

The family members or representatives of the victims of the 2018 Lion Air disaster where a Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashed into the Java Sea, killing all 189 aboard, must pursue their claims under the Death on the High Seas Act, the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled. DOHSA limits the ability of victims’ family members to sue for disasters occurring in international waters only to suits in admiralty courts. And those courts solely provide bench trials.

A 2022 US District Court for the District of Northern Illinois ruling granted Boeing’s request to apply the Death on the High Seas Act to cases involving the 2018 Lion Air 610 crash, which would mean the cases would be resolved only by bench trials. The plaintiffs argued this deprived them of their right to a jury trial under the Seventh Amendment.

The Seventh Circuit disagreed, ruling DOHSA preempts each of the plaintiffs’ wrongful death and survival claims, Judge Kenneth F. Ripple wrote. Ripple pointed to US Supreme Court precedent that expressly holds that the US Congress’ implementation of DOHSA explicitly limits it to a civil action in admiralty court.

Boeing’s “reading is most consistent with DOHSA’s text and Congress’s intent,” Ripple said.

The plaintiffs also contended that the Multiforum Trial Jurisdiction Act allows them to bring their claims as common-law claims if there is a non-admiralty source of jurisdiction. But Ripple pointed out that, unless explicitly stated in a statute, updates to the federal court system didn’t change materially the choices available to plaintiffs with maritime claims.

“DOHSA has never expressly stated that plaintiffs with DOHSA claims can maintain a suit at law or with the right to a jury trial,” Ripple said.

The high seas statute, which was enacted in 1920 in the aftermath of the sinking of the Titanic, is generally the source of claims for deaths resulting from wrongful acts and negligence on the high seas more than three nautical miles from the shore of the United States and 12 nautical miles from the US shore in commercial aviation accidents.

Boeing argued the statute prohibits the lawsuits from being resolved by jury trial and, instead, the suits must be heard in bench trials. Plaintiff Terrence Buehler questioned if the maritime law even applies because crash victim Lui Chandra, whose estate Buehler represents, may have died while she was over land.

The appeals court consolidated Buehler’s lawsuit with another suit from Laura Smith, who represents the estate of Andrea Manfredi, ruling on both Tuesday.

Judges Michael B. Brennan and Candace R. Jackson-Akiwumi joined the opinion.

BartlettChen LLC represents Buehler. The X-Law Group PC, Roeder Law Offices LLC, Law Offices of McGuinn Hillsman & Palefsky, Worthington Law, and Michael F. Sturley of Austin, Texas represent Smith. Perkins Coie LLP represents Boeing.

The cases are Buehler v. Boeing Co., 7th Cir., No. 23-02359, 8/6/24 and Smith v. Boeing Co., 7th Cir., No. 23-02358, 8/6/24.