Phoenix agrees to settle in Katalin Metro case
Metro was spun 175 times during an airlift performed by the city’s fire department in 2019
The city council of Phoenix, Arizona, has agreed to a US$450,000 settlement for a woman spun in the air during a helicopter rescue in June 2019.
The claim was agreed unanimously at the council’s meeting on 1 December to pay up to that amount ‘in settlement of claims in Metro v. City of Phoenix.’
Katalin Metro, who was 74 years old at the time of the incident, was airlifted from Piestewa Peak by helicopter when the stretcher she had been placed in span 175 times in the aircraft’s downwash.
Metro subsequently filed a $2 million notice of claim against the City of Phoenix for the ‘physical, emotional and psychological injuries’ suffered during the rescue, with a civil lawsuit later filed in 2020 with Maricopa County Superior Court.
Injuries mentioned in the claim included swelling and bruising to both eyes, blood in her external auditory canals and soft tissue swelling over part of her skull. Metro’s medical bills were reported to amount to over $290,000.
The claim was signed by lawyer K Thomas Slack, who stated that Metro ‘did not want to be taken off the trail by helicopter’ after an evaluation found that she did not need any kind of emergency transport. Slack added that despite this, the city fire department had decided to use a helicopter over any form of ground transportation.
Oliver Cuenca
Oliver Cuenca is a Junior Editor at AirMed&Rescue. He was previously a News and Features Journalist for the rail magazine IRJ until 2021, and studied MA Magazine Journalism at Cardiff University. His favourite helicopter is the AW169 – the workhorse of the UK air ambulance sector! He also led the creation of Waypoint: The AirMed&Rescue podcast, serving as its Production Editor and co-host.