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PT (Persero) Merpati Nusantara Airlines v. Thirdstone Aircraft Leasing Group, Inc.
Citations: 246 F.R.D. 17; 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 49067; 2007 WL 2007511Docket: No. 1:07-cv-00717
Court: District Court, District of Columbia; July 9, 2007; Federal District Court
Plaintiff PT (Persero) Merpati Nusantara Airlines (Merpati) initiated legal action against Thirdstone Aircraft Leasing Group, Inc. (Thirdstone) and Alan Messner, alleging breach of contract or conversion related to aircraft lease agreements. The court granted Merpati’s Motion for Entry of Default Judgment after confirming that the defendants failed to respond to the complaint, which was filed on April 20, 2007, and that they were served on April 24 and April 26, 2007. Defaults were entered against both defendants on May 25, 2007, and June 5, 2007, respectively. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 55(b)(2), default judgments may be issued against unresponsive defendants, establishing liability for well-pleaded allegations but not necessarily the claimed damages. The plaintiff sought $1,000,000 in liquidated damages, supported by affidavits detailing the calculation based on unreturned security deposits related to two aircraft leases. The agreements stipulated that security deposits would be refunded if the aircraft were not delivered by specified dates, which did not occur. The court confirmed that the deposits, previously transferred to Messner upon his request, were not returned to Merpati. The court found the damage calculations credible and ruled in favor of Merpati, awarding $1,000,000 in damages, to be paid jointly and severally by the defendants, along with post-judgment interest until the judgment is satisfied.