I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4880 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to prohibit certain helicopter flights 

over major cities with high population densities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 28, 2019 

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York (for herself, Mr. NADLER, Ms. 

VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. ENGEL, and 

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to prohibit certain 

helicopter flights over major cities with high population 

densities, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Helicopter 

5 Safety Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN FLIGHTS OVER MAJOR 

7 CITIES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 447 of title 49 is amend9 ed by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 44741. Prohibition on certain flights over major 

2 cities 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 

4 date of enactment of this section, no person may operate 

5 a civil rotorcraft in covered airspace except as provided 

6 for under subsection (b). 

7 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY.—The pro9 hibition in subsection (a) shall not apply to a flight 

10 carried out for purposes of public health and safety, 

11 including— 

12 ‘‘(A) law enforcement; 

13 ‘‘(B) emergency response; 

14 ‘‘(C) disaster response; 

15 ‘‘(D) the provision of medical services; and 

16 ‘‘(E) providing other services for the ben17 efit of the general public, including flights car18 ried out for research or for official purposes by 

19 a news organization. 

20 ‘‘(2) INFRASTRUCTURE MAINTENANCE.—The 

21 prohibition in subsection (a) shall not apply to a 

22 flight carried out for purposes heavy-lift operations 

23 in support of construction and infrastructure main24 tenance. 

25 ‘‘(c) COVERED AIRSPACE DEFINED.—In this section, 

26 the term ‘covered airspace’ means the airspace directly 


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1 over any city with a population over 8 million people and 

2 with a population density of over 25,000 people per square 

3 mile, including the airspace over any waterways considered 

4 within the limits of such city.’’. 

5 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec6 tions for chapter 447 of title 49 is amended by adding 

7 at the end the following: 

‘‘44741. Prohibition on certain flights over major cities.’’. 

8 SEC. 3. HELICOPTER FLIGHT ROUTES FOR MAJOR CITIES 

9 AND SURROUNDING AREAS. 

10 Not later than 90 days after a city initially meets the 

11 requirements to be covered by the prohibition in section 

12 44741 of title 49, United States Code (as added by section 

13 2), the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administra14 tion shall issue or update such regulations as are nec15 essary to carry out the requirements of such section. 

16 SEC. 4. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS. 

17 (a) SECTION 44737.—Chapter 447 of title 49, United 

18 States Code, is amending by redesignating the second sec19 tion 44737 (as added by section 581 of the FAA Reau20 thorization Act of 2018) as section 44740. 

21 (b) ANALYSIS.—The analysis for chapter 447 of title 

22 49, United States Code, is amended— 

23 (1) by striking the item relating to the second 

24 section 44737 (as added by section 581 of the FAA 

25 Reauthorization Act of 2018); and 


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1 (2) by inserting after section 44739 the fol2 lowing: 

‘‘44740. Special rule for certain aircraft operations.’’. 

3 (c) SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN AIRCRAFT OPER4 ATIONS.—Section 44740 of title 49, United States Code, 

5 (as redesignated by subsection (a)) is amended— 

6 (1) in the heading, by striking the period at the 

7 end; 

8 (2) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘(1)’’ the 

9 second time it appears; and 

10 (3) in subsection (c)(2), by adding a period at 

11 the end. 

Æ 


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