Phoenix agrees to pay woman $450K over spinning basket mountain rescue
Dec 2, 2021, 12:00 PM | Updated: 12:18 pm
PHOENIX – A woman whose helicopter rescue became a spinning ordeal above a Phoenix mountain two years ago has reached a settlement of up to $450,000 with the city.
The Phoenix City Council approved the move to pay Katalin Metro at Wednesday’s meeting, according to public documents.
A spokesman for the city told KTAR News 92.3 FM in an email Thursday, “The Metros and the City were able to come to an agreement of this disputed claim. The City denies any wrongdoing or liability.”
Metro and her husband George filed a $2 million notice of claim over the June 2019 extrication from Piestewa Peak and its aftermath.
Metro, then 74, fell on the trail and was injured. Phoenix Fire Department first responders arrived and placed her in a rescue basket.
ABC 15 video showed the basket spinning wildly for over half a minute as it was hoisted.
The couple said although fire department personnel agreed with Metro that she did not need to be flown off the mountain, paramedics chose to transport her by helicopter.
Two days after the rescue, George Metro told KTAR News that his wife’s face was swollen because blood vessels burst from the spinning and she was too dizzy to walk.
The claim said the ordeal caused Katalin “physical, emotional and psychological injuries and damages.”
At the time, rescue personnel from the Phoenix police and fire departments said such spinning was rare but not unprecedented.
