MEMORANDUM
This action arises out of an airplane crash near Tulla, Scotland on July 27, 1976 in which all persons aboard were killed. The Plaintiff, Gaynell Reyno, instituted this suit as the personal representative of five decedents, William Fehilly, Liam Stuart Fehilly, William James McDougall Storm, David Vincent Moran, and Peter Cunningham Scott. Gaynell Reyno seeks general damages for the heirs and next of kin of the above decedents and damages for funeral and burial expenses in this suit styled as one for wrongful death on the basis of products liability and negligence theories. The remaining Defendants, Piper Aircraft Company and Hartzell Propeller, Inc., were the manufacturers of the aircraft and propeller respectively. A number of motions are presently before the court, a motion to dismiss filed by Defendant Hartzell Propeller, a motion for judgment on the pleadings or for summary judgment filed by Piper Aircraft, and two motions to strike a responsive brief filed by the Plaintiff. After reviewing the extensive materials submitted by all parties, we have concluded that this action must be dismissed on the ground of forum non conveniens. This dismissal will be conditioned on the Defendants abiding by their stipulation to submit to the jurisdiction of the courts of Scotland and their waiver of the Scottish statute of limitations.
Several issues were raised by the motions of the Defendants. Other than their main *729 argument that the action should be dismissed under the doctrine of forum non conveniens, the .Defendants also asserted that under applicable choice of laws rules that the law of Scotland would control this action; and that pursuant to Scottish law, the Plaintiff neither has standing nor a right to proceed under the theory of strict tort liability. This question of the applicable law is interrelated with the analysis for forum non conveniens and because of our decision that the Defendants have shown overwhelming reasons for dismissal under this doctrine, we need not directly confront the standing and liability issues. The Plaintiff has also raised the question of estoppel which we have found to be unpersuasive.
Our primary attention therefore is focused on the factors applicable to the doctrine of forum non conveniens and the question whether we should exercise jurisdiction over this action brought by reason of an aircraft accident in Scotland, in which Scottish citizens who were passengers and a Scottish pilot, acting in the course of his employment with a Scottish Air Service, were killed while flying in Scottish airspace and when all decedents’ survivors, the real parties in interest, are citizens and residents of Scotland and more particularly, when the only contact with Pennsylvania is that it was the site of the manufacture of the airplane involved in this litigation, not the propeller which was manufactured and designed in Ohio, over seven years prior to the date of the fatal accident. Too much has happened from the date the airplane left the plant of Piper Aircraft, which goes to the heart of the question of liability, that the contact with this forum with respect to this action can at best be described as plainly insignificant.
The procedural history of this case is important to our decision of dismissal. The action was instituted by Plaintiff Reyno in the Superior Court of the state of California for the county of Los Angeles in July of 1977. After being removed to federal court in August of that year, Defendant Hartzell filed a motion to dismiss the action for lack of personal jurisdiction or in the alternative to transfer the action pursuant to 28 ILS.C. § 1404(a). Defendant Piper then joined in Defendant Hartzell’s motion to transfer the action on November 23, 1977. The District Court entered an order on December 21, 1977 granting Defendant Hartzell’s motion to quash service of process and granting the motion to transfer this action to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The quashing of service of process to Hartzell was based on due process considerations set forth in
International Shoe Company v. Washington,
The facts as noted center on the crash of an aircraft on July 27, 1976 in which the pilot and all passengers were killed in the navigable air space near Tulla, Scotland. The aircraft involved in the accident was a Piper Model TA-23 bearing British registration mark G-AYSF which was manufactured by Defendant Piper at Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. The plane’s propeller was designed and manufactured by Defendant Hartzell Propeller, Inc. in Ohio. The aircraft was being piloted at the time of the accident by a Scottish citizen and resident, over mountainous terrain in southern Scotland. Subsequent to the manufacture of the aircraft involved in this accident it was sold and delivered to a purchaser in Ohio for use in the United States. By a chain of events, apparently still unknown to the Defendants, the plane came to be owned and operated by a Scottish air-taxie company in Scotland and the British Isles. The plane was owned, operated, maintained, and serviced by the Scottish owner for several years preceding the accident of July 27, *730 1976. The British Department of Trade Investigation investigated the accident shortly after its occurrence. Presently, what remains of the wreckage is in the possession of the British Department of Trade Investigation.
The Plaintiff, Gaynell Reyno instituted this action as the personal representative of the estates of five of the decedents. All of these decedents were citizens and residents of the country of Scotland. Also, all heirs and next of kin, and all those persons entitled to recover by virtue of the deaths of the passengers, (if any recovery is decreed), are citizens and residents of the country of Scotland. Plaintiff Reyno is a citizen and resident of California and is not related to the decedents.
The Defendants assert that the accident was due to pilot error or improper maintenance and servicing of the aircraft and in this respect have stated their desire and inability to join the operating company by whom the pilot was employed, the pilot’s estate, and the owner and maintainer of the aircraft. A lawsuit has been brought before the courts of Scotland naming as defendants the operating company, MacDonald Aviation, Ltd., the owner of the plane, Air Navigation and Trading Company, Ltd., the executor of the pilot’s estate, and the Civil Aviation Authority. Also an action was commenced in the courts of Great Britain against Piper Aircraft and Hartzell Propellers along with MacDonald Aviation and Air Navigation and Trading Company by a personal representative of the sixth passenger in the aircraft at the time of the accident, the only passenger not represented by Gaynell Reyno in the instant action. Therefore at least one action is pending before the courts in the United Kingdom against the present Defendants and other involved parties.
We now begin with a discussion of the factors that we believe substantially point to the dismissal of this action under the doctrine of
forum non conveniens.
We have the inherent power to refuse jurisdiction over a case such as this one where the interests of justice require that the suit be brought in a foreign country.
Gulf Oil Corporation v. Gilbert,
The general factors that we must consider in determining whether to dismiss an action for
forum non conveniens
were set forth by the Supreme Court in
Gulf Oil Corporation v. Gilbert,
The above cited factors have generally been followed by all courts presented with the issue of whether a case should be dismissed because a foreign forum is the more convenient one.
See, e. g., DeMateos v. Texaco, Inc.,
The first factor that we must consider is whether an alternative forum is open to the Plaintiff if this motion is dismissed. Generally, it has been stated by the courts that the doctrine of
forum non conveniens
presupposes that an alternative more appropriate and convenient forum is available.
See, e. g., DelRio v. Ballenger Corporation,
Next, we turn to the important factor of Plaintiff’s choice of forum. As stated in
Gulf Oil,
“unless the balance is strongly in favor of the defendant, the plaintiff’s choice of forum should rarely be disturbed.”
Id.
at 508,
Generally, the courts have been less solicitous when the plaintiff is not an American citizen or resident and, particularly when the foreign citizens seek to benefit from the more liberal tort rules provided for the protection of citizens and residents of the United States. As stated in
Farmanfarmaian v. Gulf Oil Corporation,
Also, the plaintiff’s choice of forum is generally given less weight when the forum selected is not the plaintiff’s home jurisdiction.
Fitzgerald v. Texaco, Inc.,
521 F.2d
*732
448, 451 (2d Cir. 1975);
McCarthy
v.
Canadian National Railways,
The next grouping of factors that we will weigh are the private interests of the litigants, including relative ease of access to sources of proof, availability of compulsory process, cost of obtaining willing witnesses, necessity of a view of the premises, and the site of the investigation of an accident. A review of the facts in this case illustrates that all such private interests point to Scotland as the appropriate forum for this litigation.
Nearly all events relevant to this action occurred outside of the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The only connection with this forum is the fact that the plane was manufactured here over seven years before the accident. The only contact with Plaintiff’s choice of forum, California, is that Plaintiff’s attorney and expert reside there. Convenience to counsel or to expert witnesses, it should be noted, is of small importance in the balancing of factors. See
Car-Freshner Corporation v. Auto Aid Manufacturing Corporation,
The ease of access to proof element strongly points to dismissal of this action. First, all evidence as to damages, both witnesses and documents, is located in Scotland. Ease of access to sources of proof of damages is an important factor in a wrongful death action.
Domingo
v.
States Marine Lines,
Plaintiff relies on the argument that the essential elements needed for proof of her case are present in this forum since the plane was designed and manufactured here. We note that the alleged defective component part, the propeller, was designed and manufactured outside of this forum. Also the aircraft was manufactured over seven years prior to the accident and evidence of any changes in the plane is located in Scotland. Even Plaintiff admits that all witnesses to damages reside in Scotland. Furthermore, we cannot accept Plaintiff’s argument that the evidence going to legitimately raised defenses is irrelevant to our determination. The interests of justice require that a trial be fair to all parties, not just the Plaintiff.
*733
While there are no doubt numerous cases that have reached this same conclusion based on fundamental fairness, we will specifically point to just two. The first case we rely on is
Michell v. General Motors Corporation,
The second case on point on this question is
Dahl
v.
United Technologies Corporation,
. a substantial amount of the testimonial evidence will come from Norwegians. Testimony from persons who knew the decedents will be relevant to the damages issue. Among the potential liability witnesses are employees of Helikopter Service A/S, employees from other firms in Norway that serviced or made installations on the helicopter, and the Norwegian government officials who investigated the accident.
Id. at 700. We think the chief judge was absolutely correct, that we must look to all evidence that is necessary for a fair trial and in this case the place to find such evidence is Scotland.
Interrelated with the above discussion is the fact that the witnesses and other evidentiary materials that are located in Scotland are beyond the reach of compulsory process of this court. The unavailability of compulsory process to compel the attendance of witnesses necessary for a complete and fair trial has been recognized as a critical factor in the dismissal of cases for
forum non conveniens. See e. g., Fitzgerald v. Texaco, Inc.,
Finally, the absence of necessary third parties weighs heavily on our determination that the Middle District is not a suitable forum for this litigation. The Defendants have persuasively argued that persons located in Scotland ought to be made parties to this suit. These include the pilot, the owner of the plane, and the operating company. Since the Defendants in this action cannot implead these necessary parties it would be unfair to make Piper and Hartzell proceed to trial in this forum. This inability to implead parties located in foreign countries has likewise been viewed as a critical factor by the courts.
See e. g., Gulf Oil Corporation v. Gilbert,
*734 The last factor that we will discuss pertaining to the private interests is the necessity of a view. More generally, we believe this factor of Gulf Oil requires us to consider, as many courts have done, where the accident or event took place. All facts relevant to the crash are in Scotland, other than the fact that the manufacture and design of the plane occurred in the United States seven years before. If weight should be assigned to this “view” criteria, it certainly favors the Defendants. Familiarity with the topography around Tulla, Scotland and inspection of the wreckage of the plane would be aided by a trial in the British Isles where the accident occurred.
We now will look to the factors concerning the public interest which we believe even more strongly point to dismissal. These factors include court congestion, local interest in the lawsuit, court familiarity with the law that will govern the action, the avoidance of unnecessary problems and conflicts of law foreign to the court and the unfairness of burdening citizens in an unrelated forum with jury duty.
Gulf Oil Co. v. Gilbert,
Uppermost in our weighing of these public interest factors is that a trial in this forum would be hopelessly complex and confusing for a jury as different laws will apply to different parties. From our review of the applicable choice of law rules, it appears that Pennsylvania law would apply to Defendant Piper and that Scottish law would apply to Defendant Hartzell.
The law is clear that we must apply the choice of law rule of the state in which we sit, Pennsylvania.
Klaxon Co. v. Stentor Electric Manufacturing, Co.,
Defendant Hartzell as previously noted, was found to have insufficient contact with the state of California and service was quashed. The District Court of California did not dismiss the action to Defendant Hartzell, but instead properly transferred the action to this forum. We use “properly” in the sense that the court had the power to transfer the action as to Defendant Hartzell even though service was quashed. Plaintiff argues that the Van Dusen rule applies to Hartzell as well as Defendant Piper, however, for the reasons that follow, we cannot accept this assertion.
The purpose of the Van Dusen rule was to prevent a party from obtaining a change in the law that would be applied to a case by seeking a transfer of the action. In essence, the Van Dusen Court ruled that a transfer under section 1404 should result in a change of courtrooms only, not a change in the applicable law. In the instant case the district court of California held that the law of California could not apply to Defendant Hartzell because of insufficient contacts with that state. The question we are presented with is whether the Plaintiff in this action can capture the law of California under Van Dusen for transportation to this district and have it apply to Defendant Hartzell when service against Defendant Hartzell was improper in California. We hold that Plaintiff cannot accomplish this. Simply, the Plaintiff cannot take advantage of the law of California when she could not properly obtain jurisdiction over Defendant Hartzell there. Thus, to Hartzell we must apply Pennsylvania choice of law rules.
First, we will briefly discuss whether California choice of law rules require that we apply California, Pennsylvania, or Scottish law to Defendant Piper. California courts follow the governmental interest approach
*735
in resolving conflict of law issues.
Reich v. Purcell,
The governmental interest approach involves three steps of analysis. First, the applicable legal issue and law must be identified. Second, the state interest underlying the law must be determined. Third, it must then be determined if that interest would be furthered through application of the states’ law to resolve the specific issues involved in the case. We intend to make no definitive ruling on what law will apply under the California governmental interest analysis. Rather, our discussion will go only so far as to hold that either Pennsylvania or Scottish law will apply under the California choice of laws rules. We are relegated to this less than complete analysis because of our unfamiliarity with Scottish law which in itself is a factor supportive of dismissal of the action.
Areas of conflict are present between these three jurisdictions, i. e., Pennsylvania, California, and Scotland. First, Scottish law does not allow a personal representative to bring an action of this kind in Scotland. Under Scottish law, a personal representative may only bring an action for funeral expenses. Otherwise, an action of this type may be brought only by the deceased’s relatives or dependents. We have previously stated that Gaynell Reyno meets neither of these requirements. Both Pennsylvania and California appear to permit such suits. Second, the law of Scotland has not adopted and does not recognize the theory of strict products liability. The only basis for liability in Scotland for the manufacturer of a defective product is negligence. In contrast, both Pennsylvania and California recognize strict liability.
What interests of the state these laws promote must be identified by reference to the interpretations of the laws by the respective forum courts. California courts have held that the states’ interest in creating a cause of action for wrongful death lies in governing the distribution of proceeds to beneficiaries and also the interest of deterring conduct within its borders that takes life.
Hurtado v. Superior Court,
Particularly, this is true with respect to the rule of law in Scotland that only relatives or dependents of a deceased may bring an action of the type of the instant action and not a personal representative unrelated to the decedent. We, however, only have affidavits from lawyers from Scotland as to what the rules of law are in that country and thus we cannot make, as we said before, any definitive ruling on the purpose of the Scottish law or thereby the choice of law. We do agree with the Plaintiff that in line with the California decisions, that the restrictions on recovery that exist in Scotland would generally not be applied in a choice of laws situation as the foreign country would likely have no interest in restricting any recovery its citizens might receive in foreign courts from foreign defendants. See,
Hurtado v. Superior Court,
We therefore return to our previously enunciated conclusion that the law of California would not be applied under the choice of law rules of California as that state has no interest in having its laws apply. Plaintiff admits this fact. Furthermore, we believe that Pennsylvania also has no governmental interest in having its wrongful death laws apply. For the protection of the real parties in interest in this suit we believe that the application of Scottish law would further the purpose of the laws of Scotland with respect to the restrictions on proper plaintiffs. We believe that the California courts would therefore apply the law of Scotland to this suit.
There exists a conflict among the three forums in the law of products liability. Scotland only recognizes negligence as a basis for liability while the two states apply the rule of strict liability. California has no interests in having its products liability law apply and thus under the California choice of law rules it would not apply its own law. See,
Bernhard v. Harrah’s Club,
The law of Scotland in not recognizing strict liability is more limited in terms of liability ' than Pennsylvania. Generally, such a restriction provides an indication that the law seeks to limit the liability of its resident manufacturers to those cases where negligence can be shown; that only culpable conduct will result in liability. If the only purpose of the requirement of proof of negligence is to aid manufacturers in Scotland, then we may assume that the purpose of the law will not be furthered by applying it to American manufacturers.
Pennsylvania’s interests in recognizing strict liability is foremost in ensuring that citizens will be compensated for injuries resulting from defective products. There does exist in the imposition of strict liability on manufacturers an element of deterrence. While the element of compensating injured residents outweighs the deterrence factor, at least some slight interest on the part of the state of Pennsylvania would be furthered if the law of Pennsylvania were applied to Defendant Piper. No Pennsylvania governmental interest, however, would be promoted by the application of Pennsylvania law to Defendant Hartzell. Since none of the decedents nor their relatives were Pennsylvania citizens, Pennsylvania’s interest in compensating its injured citizens is of little weight. While the interest of Pennsylvania in applying its laws is indeed slight, neither of the other forums has any apparent interest in applying their laws and we therefore assume that California courts would apply Pennsylvania law under the choice of law rules of California.
In summary, under the California choice of law rules, it appears the law of Scotland would be applied to Defendant Piper with respect to the wrongful death laws. Under this interpretation, Plaintiff would not be a proper litigant. Second, the strict liability law of Pennsylvania would likely apply to Defendant Piper and not the negligence law of Scotland.
Next, we will briefly review the law that should apply to Defendant Hartzell under Pennsylvania choice of law rules. As Plaintiff accurately points out in her brief, the courts of Pennsylvania follow the significant contacts approach. In
Griffith v. United Airlines,
To reiterate some of the crucial aspects of the contacts, we begin with the fact of the accident in Scotland. The conduct giving rise to the injury occurred in one of three places, Ohio, Pennsylvania, or Scotland. The real parties in interest are domiciled in Scotland, are residents of Scotland, while the Defendants are located in Ohio and Pennsylvania. We will not outline the contact in any more detail as we find the weight of the contacts with Scotland to be overwhelming. We hold that the law of Scotland would apply in the instant action to Defendant Hartzell.
We will now once again turn our attention to the public interest factors of
Gulf Oil
As
Gulf Oil
recognized an extremely important factor in the balance of interests is the fact that foreign law will govern all or part of a case.
Another factor that Gulf Oil suggests that we consider is the unfairness of burdening citizens in this forum with jury duty when this forum has little connection with the controversy. The only connection with this forum is that the plane was manufactured in this district years before this accident. Trial of this case would take weeks and we do find that it would be an unfair burden to impose this on the citizens in this community. Also, it would be a huge burden on this court in terms of both time and the costs involved. Our court is too congested for us to try an action that belongs in a foreign forum.
See, Gulf Oil
at 508, 509,
If we attempted to try this action in this forum the administrative and legal difficulties would be extreme. The legal problems include determining the serious and complex conflict of law questions, which this memorandum has only touched on. Likewise, the large numbers of witnesses that would be needed from Scotland, the British Isles, Ohio, and California would likely cause administrative difficulties. The physical evidence is in Scotland or the British Isles. We also note that Scotland has a large interest in the outcome of this litigation as it occurred in its airspace. The case thus may shed light on considerations which affect the safety of its citizens.
See, Fitzgerald v. Texaco, Inc.,
That the law of Scotland is not as helpful to the real parties in interest is not a weighty consideration. We must determine which forum is proper because of convenience and the interests of justice and the decision cannot be correctly made if the amount of a plaintiff’s likely award is given undue weight. Generally, the cases that have been dismissed on the ground of
forum non conveniens
all involve situations where a party enters a forum with the hope of seeking more liberal rules of recovery. If the foreign law that ought to govern a case does not protect its citizens as fully as the law of the dismissing forum, that is a matter to be dealt with in the foreign forum.
See e. g., Michell v. General Motors Corporation,
The Plaintiff by brief and at oral argument asserted that the Defendants should be estopped from seeking dismissal of this action on forum non conveniens grounds. No cases are cited in support of that proposition and we believe that is a sufficient indicator of the merit of that argument. Plaintiff argues that since the case has been transferred once before and for the reasons stated by Defendants in their briefs that they should now be es-topped from arguing that the Middle District is not a proper forum. A reading of the briefs filed by Plaintiff in response to the transfer motion, in accordance with this argument, would lead us to conclude that Plaintiff should be estopped from raising this argument. The papers filed concerning the motion to transfer are, of course, irrelevant to the question we have decided. They were filed early on in this proceeding before many of the important facts of this case were uncovered. Also, Defendants should not be punished for their failure to file a motion to dismiss for forum non conveniens first, instead of the motion to transfer. If they would have filed such a motion we feel sure that the California district court would have likewise dismissed this action.
The action will be dismissed on the conditions that the Defendants waive any defense that they might have relating to any statute of limitations that did not exist prior to the initiation of this suit and that they abide by their stipulation to submit to the jurisdiction of the Scottish courts.