A bill to increase the safety of the crew and passengers in air ambulances.

Summary: Air Medical Service Safety Improvement Act of 2009 - Requires helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft certificate holders providing emergency medical services, if there is a medical crew on board, without regard to whether there are patients on board, to comply with federal safety operating requirements governing commuter and on demand operations as well as persons on board aircraft. Prescribes other requirements for such certificate holders when operating under instrument flight rules or carrying out training.

Requires the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to initiate a rulemaking to: (1) create a standardized checklist of risk evaluation factors which shall be used by helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft emergency medical service operators to determine whether a mission should be accepted; (2) require such operators to implement and comply with performance-based flight dispatch and flight-following procedures; and (3) develop a method to assess and ensure that such operators comply with the latter requirements.

Requires, not later than one year after enactment of this Act, helicopter or fixed-wing aircraft used for emergency medical service to have on board a terrain awareness and warning system device, and a means of displaying its information, that meet FAA guidelines.

Requires the Administrator to: (1) require certificate holders for helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft used for emergency medical service operations to report annually on the number of such aircraft used, and number of flights and hours flown, to provide air ambulance services; (2) issue a report on the availability, survivability, and costs of devices that record voice communications and flight data information on existing and new helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft used for emergency medical service operations; and (3) issue regulations to require such devices on board such aircraft.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Air Medical Service Safety 
Improvement Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. INCREASING SAFETY FOR HELICOPTER AND FIXED-WING EMERGENCY 
              MEDICAL SERVICE OPERATORS AND PATIENTS.

    (a) Compliance Regulations.--
            (1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), not 
        later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 
        helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft certificate holders 
        providing emergency medical services shall comply with part 135 
        of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, if there is a medical 
        crew on board, without regard to whether there are patients on 
        board.
            (2) Exception.--If a certificate holder described in 
        paragraph (1) is operating under instrument flight rules or is 
        carrying out training therefor--
                    (A) the weather minimums and duty and rest time 
                regulations under such part 135 of such title shall 
                apply; and
                    (B) the weather reporting requirement at the 
                destination shall not apply until such time as the 
                Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration 
                determines that portable, reliable, and accurate 
                ground-based weather measuring and reporting systems 
                are available.
    (b) Implementation of Flight Risk Evaluation Program.--
            (1) Initiation.--Not later than 60 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal 
        Aviation Administration shall initiate a rulemaking--
                    (A) to create a standardized checklist of risk 
                evaluation factors based on Notice 8000.301, which was 
                issued by the Administration on August 1, 2005; and
                    (B) to require helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft 
                emergency medical service operators to use the 
                checklist created under subparagraph (A) to determine 
                whether a mission should be accepted.
            (2) Completion.--The rulemaking initiated under paragraph 
        (1) shall be completed not later than 18 months after it such 
        initiation.
    (c) Comprehensive Consistent Flight Dispatch Procedures.--
            (1) Initiation.--Not later than 60 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal 
        Aviation Administration shall initiate a rulemaking--
                    (A) to require that helicopter and fixed-wing 
                emergency medical service operators formalize and 
                implement performance-based flight dispatch and flight 
                following procedures; and
                    (B) to develop a method to assess and ensure that 
                such operators comply with the requirements described 
                in subparagraph (A).
            (2) Completion.--The rulemaking initiated under paragraph 
        (1) shall be completed not later than 18 months after it such 
        initiation.
    (d) Improving Situational Awareness.--Not later than one year after 
the date of enactment of this Act, any helicopter or fixed-wing 
aircraft used for emergency medical service shall have on board a 
device that performs the function of a terrain awareness and warning 
system and a means of displaying that information that meets the 
requirements of the applicable Federal Aviation Administration 
Technical Standard Order or other guidance prescribed by the 
Administrator.
    (e) Improving the Data Available on Air Medical Operations.--
            (1) In general.--The Administrator of the Federal Aviation 
        Administration shall require each certificate holder for 
        helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft used for emergency medical 
        service operations to report not later than 1 year after the 
        date of enactment of this Act and annually thereafter on--
                    (A) the number of aircraft and helicopters used to 
                provide air ambulance services, the registration number 
                of each of these aircraft or helicopters, and the base 
                location of each of these aircraft or helicopters;
                    (B) the number of flights and hours flown by each 
                such aircraft or helicopter used by the certificate 
                holder to provide such services during the reporting 
                period; and
                    (C) the number of flights and the purpose of each 
                flight for each aircraft or helicopter used by the 
                certificate holder to provide such services during the 
                reporting period.
            (2) Report to Congress.--The Administrator of the Federal 
        Aviation Administration shall report to Congress on the 
        information received pursuant to paragraph (1) of this 
        subsection no later than 18 months after the date of enactment 
        of this Act.
    (f) Improving the Data Available to NTSB Investigators at Crash 
Sites.--
            (1) Study.--Not later than 120 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal 
        Aviation Administration shall issue a report that indicates the 
        availability, survivability, size, weight, and cost of devices 
        that perform the function of recording voice communications and 
        flight data information on existing and new helicopters and 
        existing and new fixed-wing aircraft used for emergency medical 
        service operations.
            (2) Rulemaking.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal 
        Aviation Administration shall issue regulations that require 
        devices that perform the function of recording voice 
        communications and flight data information on board aircraft 
        described in paragraph (1).