Metro Aviation, Inc. v. United States
Annotate this CaseA plane owned by Metro Aviation crashed in Montana, killing two passengers. Metro filed suit under against the United States in a U.S. district court in Montana, alleging negligence by FAA air traffic controllers. Metro asserted alternative claims of indemnity and contribution seeking to recover settlement amounts paid by Metro to the passengers' estates. The case was subsequently transferred to a U.S. district court in Utah. The United States moved for partial summary judgment on Metro's indemnity and contribution claims, asserting that under Utah and Montana law, the claims were barred. The federal Utah court concluded that Montana law applied but that the law in this area was unsettled. The Montana Supreme Court accepted the court's certified questions about these questions of law and answered, (1) Metro could not seek contribution from the United States with respect to the estate of one passenger, whose claim was settled without any litigation having been filed; (2) Metro could not seek contribution from the United States with respect to the estate of the second passenger because Metro settled with the estate prior to trial without joining the United States as a party; and (3) Metro was not entitled to indemnity from the United States.
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