Canadian North Inc

200, 580 Pahner Road N.B.

Calgary, Alberta TIE 7R3

Canada

January 5, 2015

VIA ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION

Charles E. Smith

Senior Trial Attomey

U.S. Departmeut ofTrausportation

Office of the General Counsel

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE

Washington, DC 20590

Michael Crook

Coordinator, Transpol1ation Disaster Operations

National Transportation Safety Board

Transportation disaster Assistance-Suite 600

490 L'Enfant Plaza East SW

Washington, DC 20594-2000

Re: Docket OST-1998-3304- Family Assistance Plans

Dear Sirs,

Please find attached a copy of Canadian North's Family Assistance Plan as required by

the Vision 100-Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act.

If you have any questions regarding Canadian North's Family Assistance Plan, please

feel free to contact me.

;,cereIy, .

PCA<.a---fl?L

Ri~

Manager, Emergency Response

Canadian North
CANADIAN NORTH ••..•...•1,_".•.•

Canadian. North Family Assistance Plan

Canadian North Family Assistance Plan

January, 2015

Overview

Canadian North's Family Assistance Plan is submitted in compliance with the 1997 Foreign Air

Carrier Family Support Act, Vision IDO-Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act and the

Wendell H.Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century (AIR-21)

This plan describes the methods by which Canadian North, in cooperation with the National

Transportation Safety Board, (NTSB) other governmental entities, and the American Red Cross,

will provide family assistance after an aviation accident involving a flight operated by Canadian

North. The purpose of this plan is to ensure that Canadian North's efforts are made in the best

interests of survivors and families and to respect the cultural & religious backgrounds of

survivors and families.

Canadian North provides family assistance without regard to an individual's status as a revenue

customer, non-revenue customer, or crew member. The Canadian North's plan meets the

provisions of 49 USC Part 41313: Foreign Air Carrier Responsibilities.

Certain specialized services that are required following an accident may be accomplished on

behalf of Canadian North by vendors having expertise in those areas.

Pre-Response Planning

Committing Sufficient Resources

Canadian North maintains agreements with providers who offer comprehensive emergency

response and family assistance programs, which utilize a broad spectrum of human and

technological resources in the event of an accident. During such crises, specially trained

responders work around the clock on issues including family assistance, accident investigation,

media relations, and liaisons with government agencies and support organizations. They are

directed via a dedicated Emergency Operations Center network linked by dedicated

communications.

Canadian North maintains cooperative working relationships with the external organization(s)

involved in a crisis and has designed its emergency response structure specifically to allow

separate management of the crisis while continuing the safe operation of the airline.

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Canadian North Family Assistance Plan

Canadian North Family Assistance

Canadian North is a member of the Family Assistance Foundation, a non-profit organization that

supplements Canadian North's resources with a pool of thousands of organized and trained

volunteers established to enhance communication between Canadian North and the families

affected by an accident and to respond to needs that survivors and families may have. Every

effort is made to ensure well trained volunteers are available in all areas served by Canadian

North and organized in a manner that will allow for immediate mobilization.

Training

In addition to the intensive training provided to family assistance teams, customer service

training is also provided to personnel in public-contact positions throughout the Canadian North

system. Families may call any reservation office or may seek assistance at airports that are

neither the origin nor the destination of the flight involved in an accident. As with any training

program, enhancements are continually made to include lessons learned from survivors, family

members, industry partners, and mental health professionals. .

Periodic simulations of Canadian North's comprehensive emergency response plan are made in

cooperation with airport drills throughout its operating stations. In addition, Canadian North and

its partners routinely coordinate with federal, provincial, and local authorities that have

emergency responsibilities.

Toll-Free Telephone Number

Canadian North will activate a toll-free telephone number within-one hour after notification to

our emergency call center provider, after receiving information indicating that an aircraft

operated by Canadian North has been involved in an accident and that there are serious injuries

and/or fatalities. This number will be staffed by our Emergency Call Center provider. These

trained individuals will provide information authorized for release by Canadian North's

Corporate Communications department and will collect contact information from inquiring

individuals.

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Canadian North Family Assistance Ptan

Passenger Manifest, Ticket Reconciliation, And Notification

Passenger Manifest and Ticket Reconciliation

Immediately after the accident, Canadian North will begin the process to match the current

computerized reservations (passenger Name Records) for that flight with the ticket coupons and

other verifying data that were collected at the departure airport(s.) All known passengers will be

validated including those with reservations, standby tickets, rerouted tickets, jump seat

authorization, and non-revenue passengers and crew. Unfortunately, this process can be delayed

by persons traveling under different names, changing seats, and infants traveling without tickets.

Accordingly, Canadian North's Reservations Sales policy prohibits the unauthorized release of

this confidential, sensitive manifest information.

Upon the request of the National Transportation Safety Board and/or the American Red Cross, a

list of names of passengers aboard the aircraft (based on the best information available at the

time of the request) will be sent to the NTSB Office of Transportation Disaster Assistance. The

Director of Canadian North's Emergency Operations C.entre will ensure that the list is marked

"preliminary and unconfirmed" and will continue to update it periodically. Although the 1997

Foreign Air Carrier Family Support Act does not state a time mme for this action, a preliminary

list will be available within the first three hours. As names of persons on board are reconciled,

they will be given to our Emergency Call Center provider, so the notification process can

proceed while the remainder of the manifest continues to be verified. If citizens of countries

other than the United States are on board, Canadian North will transmit a list of their names to

the United States Department of State.

'\ Notifying Passengers' Families

Specially trained personnel from our Emergency Call Center provider will notify the family of

each passenger as soon as it appears that the individual was on board. Canadian North will not

wait for all the names of passengers to be verified. However, identifying and contacting some

passengers' next-of-kin may be delayed depending on the amount and accuracy of information

available. Callers who have inquired about a name appearing on the manifest will be contacted

by our provider until Canadian North is satisfied that the next-of-kin or the person who stated

that they were the family's contact has been notified. As the passenger list is validated,

subsequent incoming calls from family members will be routed to our call center provider for

appropriate handling.

Canadian North will not release a passenger's name publicly until after the next-of-kin has been

notified. If the next-of-kin requests that the passenger's name not be made public, Canadian

North will convey that information to the NTSB in order to honor the request.

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Passenger Identification

The local medical examin'er or coroner in the county or location of the accident is responsible for

the positive identification offatalities and will provide official notification of death to the family.

In cases where local capacity for victim identification and mortuary services is exceeded, this

task may be supplemented by members of the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team.

These teams (D-MORT) are organized and activated by the Public Health Service, a division of

the US Department of Health and Human Services. For injured passengers, the hospital is

responsible for periodic status updates and either the hospital or Canadian North will continue to

advise the families.

Family Access to the Accident City

Canadian North will arrange for the family of a passenger to travel to the city nearest the

accident if they so desire. Once at the location, family assistance personnel will be assigned and

dedicated to each family to coordinate such things as accommodations, ground transportation,

communications, the purchase of personal incidentals, visiting survivors in the hospitals, etc. Ifa

family prefers, family assistance personnel will be available to travel to the family's home

location to provide personal assistance, communications, and logistical support. When requested

by survivors or family members, professional counseling services will be made available through

Canadian North's coordination with our contracted Disaster Emergency provider and the

American Red Cross which is responsible for mental health assistance.

Canadian North will make provisions for a joint family support operations center to include

space, communications, and logistical support for federal and American Red Cross staff.

Canadian North will endeavor to secure a suitable facility to protect families from intrusions by

the media and by unwelcome solicitors.

The National Transportation Safety Board has accident-site jurisdiction. Within site security

limitations that these authorities establish, Canadian North will respond to family requests for

visits to the accident scene. Access to the site may be limited by terrain, biohazard and/or

hazardous materials concerns, security measures, or other unforeseen conditions.

Canadian North family assistance personnel will continue to assist family members as they

depart the accident location and Canadian North personnel will maintain contact with the family

until they advise that this is no longer necessary.

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Canadian North Family Assistance Plan

Human Remains and Personal Effects

The local medical examiner or coroner in the county or location of the accident is responsible for

the disposition of identifiable and unidentifiable human remains. Disaster Mortuary Operational

Response Teams may be activated by the NTSB'to assist with this process. Canadian North and

its Disaster Emergency Provider contracted to assist with these tasks will comply with decisions

made by the responsible authorities and help to ensure that the families are advised as to the

plans for disposition. The next-of.kin's wishes as to arrangements for remains identified as those

of the passenger will be honored.

Personal Effects

Local authorities such as the medical examiner or coroner should return identifiable personal

items to the passenger's family rather than having the airline become custodian of them and local

authorities should determine disposition of unidentifiable personal effects,

If personal items come into the airline's control, Canadian North or its provider will corisult with

each family about the disposition of the possessions. Unless requested otherwise, Canadian

North or its vendor will describe to the next-of-kin the condition of each such possession and

follow the direction of the next-of.kin as to the return or other disposition of such items

regardless of their condition. Because specialized services such as the cleaning and restoration

of personal effects may require a certain expertise, Canadian North has arranged for a contractor

with this expertise to handle this with care on the airline's behalf. After returning all possessions

which can be associated with specific passengers, Canadian North will retain any unclaimed

possessions which are within its control for no less than 18 months. Canadian North or its

personal effects' vendor will create an inventory of these items and carefully store them.

Monuments

If the families express a desire for a monument at the accident site, Canadian North will consult

with the family of each passenger about its construction, including any inscription on the

monument. All comments and concerns from families (along with the statutory and/or

regulatory requirements or considerations of the place of construction) will be given careful

consideration. Each family will be given a choice of including or not including the passenger's

name ifan inscription of the names is planned in the.agreed design. The goal will be to achieve

a full consensus of all families on a specific,design. Should that not be possible, in an effort to

avoid lengthy delays, it may be necessary to implement a plan agreeable to the majority of the

families.

The next~of.kin will be given an opportunity to visit the monument when construction is

complete.

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canadian North Family Assiatance Plan

Relationship with the American Red Cross

Compensation to the American Red Cross

A procedure will be developed to pay reasonable cpmpensation to the American Red Cross for

services provided by the organization. Canadian North has requested and expects to receive a

plan of tasks and anticipated expenses prior to the American Red Cross' full deployment,

consultation about costs as they are incurred, and an itemized list of services rendered and

expenses to accompany the organization's invoice.

Relationship with Domestic and International Partner Airlines

Canadian North systematically works throughout the year on all elements of emergency response

planning and procedures with the airlines having contracted partnership agreements with

Canadian North. Goals include consistent terminology and structure, identification of mutual

resources, maximum efficiency of resource deployment, cooperative management during drills

and an accident response, etc. Canadian North is committed to providing each domestic

connection or international code-share partner with assistance and support if they, as the

operating carrier, have an accident. Conversely, in the event of a Canadian North accident, the

partner airlines will provide assistance to meet language, resource, and personnel needs.

Flight Reservation Information

Canadian North will ensure, through its authorized Disaster Emergency Provider, that it will

inform any family of a passenger on the flight involved in an accident, whether or not their

family member's name appeared on any preliminary passenger manifests, if requested by the

family.

Training Of Employees and Agents

Canadian North will ensure that all personnel involved in supporting families are adequately

trained in meeting the needs of survivors and family members following an accident. This

includes both employees of Canadian North and its authorized Disaster Emergency Providers.

Canadian North is committed to training its employees and using providers who employ only the

most recent best practices for supporting both passenger and family survivors following an

accident.

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Canadian North Family Assistance Plan

Accidents Occuring Outside the United States

In the event of an accident involving a flight operated by Canadian North, but occurring outside

of the United States, Canadian North will provide support to passengers and families that is

consistent with the type of support that would be provided for accidents occuring within the

United States. Furthermore, when providing support to passengers and families who are United

States Citizens, Canadian North and its authorized providers will consult with both the National

Transportation Safety Board and the US Department of State with respect to support for those

persons.

Damage To Man-Made Structures And Other Property On The Ground

In the event that an accident involving an Canadian North flight causes damage to man-made

structures or other property on the ground, Canadian North will provide written notice to the

property owner(s) instructing them to contact their insurer(s) in order to obtain authoritative

information with regard to coverage and compensation relating to the property damage and to

advise them to obtain photographic or other detailed evidence of any property damage as soon as

possible after the accident.

NTSB Hearings Greater Than Eighty Miles From the Accident Site

Should the National Transportation Safety Board conduct public hearings (or comparable

hearings) at a location that is greater than eighty (80) miles from the accident site, Canadian

North will provide a means to simultaneously broadcast the hearing by electronic means at both

the originating and destination city of the flight that was involved in the accident, if those cities

are located in the United States.

Filing Airline Plan With DOT and NTSB

Canadian North has filed this Plan as required by the Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act of

1996.

In addition, Canadian North has submitted to the National Transportation Safety Board contact

telephone numbers at its Operations Control Centre, which can be used by the NTSB 24 hours

per day, seven days per week.

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