Federalism, the Federal Tort Claims Act, and Statutes of Repose: Maintaining the Balance

Abstract

On a foggy Saturday morning, July 28, 1945, a B-25 Bomber ferrying servicemen from Massachusetts to New York City’s LaGuardia Airport crashed into the Empire State Building, the tallest building in the world at the time. The crash resulted in flames that trapped hundreds of workers in the building. Ultimately, fourteen people died. Eight months after the crash, Congress offered money to families of the victims. Some of the family members accepted, but some of them declined and initiated lawsuits. However, “[a]t the time of the airplane crash on July 28, 1945, no action for negligence could be maintained against the United States as the employer of the pilot, since the United States was not subject to suit in tort.” 6 To remedy this issue, Congress passed, and President Harry Truman signed, the bill that we now call the Federal Tort Claims Act (hereinafter “the FTCA” or “the Act”). The FTCA raises the cloak of