ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT

May 5, 2011
The Honorable R. Lowell Thompson Navarro County Criminal District Attorney 300 West 3rd Avenue, Suite 203 Corsicana, Texas 75110

Dear Mr. Thompson: Opinion No. GA-0859 Re: Whether a sheriff or a fire department is responsible for determining where to land a helicopter during the investigation of a traffic accident (RQ-0932-GA)

You informus that a Navarro County Sheriff's deputy and the Navarro Mills VolunteerFire Department were dispatched to a serious motor vehicle accident. 1 At the scene, the fire chief and sheriff's deputy disagreed overwho couldchoosethe landing site for a helicopterto take an accident victimto thehospital. RequestLetterat2. You writethat the "deputywas ofthe opinionthathe had command decision authority due to the traffic accident scene" and the "chief asserted he had command based on his experience and the need to transport the patients to the hospital via helicopter." Id. Accordingly, you ask, "who has command authority of a traffic accident scene? Specifically does the fire department or the sheriff's office have final say on where to land a helicopter?" [d. at 1. As you note, some Texas laws authorize a sheriff's deputy to investigate certain motor vehicle accidents. [d. at 3 n.l (citing articles 2.17 and 2.20 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, providingrespectivelythat a sheriff's deputy is "aconservatorofthepeacein his county" and a duty imposed bythis Code upon the sheriffmaylawfully beperformedby his deputy; and citing section 550.041(a) ofthe Transportation Code, providing that a peace officer mayinvestigate certain kinds oftraffic accidents). Otherlaws authorize afire departmenttoprovidefireprotection andemergency medical services. See, e.g., TEX. Loc. GOV'T CODEANN. § 352.001(c) (West 2005) (authorizing a commissioners courtto contractwith a volunteerfire department to providefire protection for areas outside a municipality). See also, e.g., TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODEANN. §773.012(b)(8) (West 2010) (indicating that fire departments might provide emergency medical services). Thus, Texas statutes establish that law enforcement agencies and fire departments have different but related spheres oflegal authority on matters relating to motor vehicle accidents.
lLetter from Honorable R. Lowell Thompson, Navarro County Criminal District Attorney, to Honorable Greg Abbott, Attorney General ofTexas at 2 (Nov. \7,2011), https://www.oag.state.tx.us/opinlindex_rq.shttnl ("Request Letter").

### The Honorable R. 

### Lowell Thompson

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However, no Texas statute, judicial opinion, or regulation establishes whether a fire or sheriff's department would have "command decision authority" or "final say on where to land a helicopter" at a motor vehicle accident site. Instead, federal regulations establish that the pilot in command of a helicopter is "directly responsible for, and is the final authority as to, the operation ofthat aircraft." FAA General Operating and Flight Rules, 14 c.F.R. § 

### 91.3(a) (2011).2

2Consistent with this -federal requirement, state regulations provide that "[p]ersons or entities operating rotary wing air ambulances must direct and control the integrated activities ofboththe medical and aviation components." 25 TEx. ADMIN. CODE § 157.12(a) (2011) (Tex. Dep't ofState Health Services, Rotor-Wing Air Ambulance Operaiions). Although the pilot ofa helicopter is responsible for its operation, "typically the organization in charge ofthe medical functions directs the combinedefforts ofthe aviation and medical components during patienttransport operations." !d. The entity operating the helicopter and the organization in charge ofthe medical functions will vary fromjurisdiction to jurisdiction within the state. See generally TEx. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE ANN. §§ 775.021-.026 (West 2010) (providing requirements for the creation ofemergency service districts in and among counties and municipalities).The Honorable R. Lowell Thompson

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### SUMMARY The helicopter pilot rather than a fire department or sheriff's office has the final say on where to land a helicopter for the purpose oftransporting patients from a motor vehicle accident.

DANIEL T. HODGE First.Assistant Attorney General DAVID J. SCHENCK Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel JASON BOATRIGHT Chair, Opinion Committee Jason Boatright Very truly yours,

Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee