Petition For Review – Jurisdiction

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Civil

7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Officials: MANION, SYKES, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

Petition For Review – Jurisdiction

No. 15-3028

Helicopters, Inc. v. NTSB

Reports on helicopter crash by National Transportation Safety Board are not reviewable final orders. As such, petition to withhold report dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.

“We agree with the reasoning of the D.C. Circuit in Joshi and the Ninth Circuit in Gibson, and conclude that this case is not distinguishable from those cases. Neither the Factual Report nor the Probable Cause Report are reviewable final orders under § 1153(a) because the reports do not create any legal repercussions for Helicopters. See Joshi, 791 F.3d at 11; Gibson, 118 F.3d at 1315. Helicopters maintains that this case is distinguishable from Joshi and Gibson because the company “is not asking this Court to review the contents, conclusions or merits of the [Board’s] Factual Report or any future Probable Cause Report.” Instead, Helicopters says that it “is seeking review of the [Board’s] decision to publish for public consumption incomplete and inaccurate information related to Petitioner’s involvement in the aircraft accident prior to investigating the inaccuracies.” This argument has no merit. As the Board points out in its jurisdictional brief, to decide whether Helicopters is entitled to the relief it seeks, this court would have to determine whether the Board “has published an ‘inaccurate’ report.” Thus, to resolve this case, we would have to review the accuracy of the report. The Board also points out that the Factual Report is not final—“it is interlocutory and subject to change”—and the company’s claim that the Board’s Probable Cause Report will be faulty is therefore speculative.”

Petition Dismissed. Per Curiam

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.[/box]