II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1626 

To improve the safety of the air supply on commercial aircraft, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 25, 2017 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, and Mr. MARKEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To improve the safety of the air supply on commercial 

aircraft, 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 ‘‘Cabin Air Safety Act 

5 of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COMMERCIAL AIR CARRIER DEFINED. 

7 In this Act, the term ‘‘commercial air carrier’’ means 

8 an air carrier operating under part 121 or 135 of title 

9 14, Code of Federal Regulations. 


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1 SEC. 3. TRAINING TO RESPOND TO SMOKE OR FUME INCI2 DENTS ON AIRCRAFT. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

4 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 

5 the Federal Aviation Administration shall prescribe regu6 lations requiring flight attendants, pilots, aircraft mainte7 nance technicians, and airport first responders and emer8 gency response teams to receive training, not less fre9 quently than annually, on how to respond to incidents on 

10 board aircraft involving smoke or fumes. 

11 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The training required by sub12 section (a) shall include the dissemination of educational 

13 materials with respect to the following: 

14 (1) Sources and types of smoke and fumes on 

15 board aircraft. 

16 (2) Odor and visual descriptors to allow an in17 dividual to recognize the presence of oil and hydrau18 lic fluid fumes and other potentially hazardous 

19 fumes, such as fumes relating to hydraulic fluid, en20 gine exhaust, ground service vehicle exhaust, fuel, 

21 de-icing fluid, and ozone. 

22 (3) The potential for acute or chronic impair23 ment to an individual relating to such fumes. 

24 (4) Procedures for recognizing and responding 

25 to smoke and fumes on board aircraft. 


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1 (5) An overview of the system for reporting in2 cidents of smoke or fumes on board aircraft estab3 lished under section 4(a)(2). 

4 (6) Requirements relating to reporting incidents 

5 of smoke and fumes on board aircraft to the Federal 

6 Aviation Administration under sections 4 and 6(b). 

7 SEC. 4. REPORTING OF INCIDENTS OF SMOKE OR FUMES 

8 ON BOARD AIRCRAFT. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 

11 the Federal Aviation Administration shall— 

12 (1) develop a standardized form for flight at13 tendants, pilots, and aircraft maintenance techni14 cians to report incidents of smoke or fumes on board 

15 an aircraft operated by a commercial air carrier; and 

16 (2) establish a system for reporting incidents of 

17 smoke or fumes on board aircraft that allows— 

18 (A) pilots, flight attendants, and aircraft 

19 maintenance technicians to submit the form de20 veloped under paragraph (1) to the Federal 

21 Aviation Administration; and 

22 (B) pilots, flight attendants, aircraft main23 tenance technicians, and commercial air carriers 

24 to search the reported incidents database com25 piled by the Federal Aviation Administration 


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1 for the purposes of reviewing and monitoring 

2 incidents contained in the database and assist3 ing with investigations conducted under section 

4 5. 

5 (b) CONTENT OF FORMS.—The form developed under 

6 subsection (a)(1) for reporting an incident of smoke or 

7 fumes on board an aircraft shall include sections for the 

8 following information: 

9 (1) Identification of the flight, the type of air10 craft, the registration number of the aircraft, and 

11 the individual reporting the incident. 

12 (2) Information about the smoke or a fire, if 

13 relevant, including a description of the nature and 

14 apparent source of the smoke or fire. 

15 (3) Information about the fumes, including a 

16 description of the type, apparent source, smell, and 

17 visual consistency (if any) of the smoke or fumes. 

18 (4) Information about the location of the smoke 

19 or fumes. 

20 (5) Information about the engine manufacturer, 

21 engine type, the engine serial number, and the age 

22 of the engine. 

23 (6) Information about the phase of flight dur24 ing which smoke or fumes were present. 


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1 (7) Other observations about the smoke or 

2 fumes. 

3 (8) A description of symptoms reported by crew 

4 members and passengers. 

5 (9) Information with respect to whether crew 

6 members or passengers used, needed, or were admin7 istered supplemental or emergency oxygen. 

8 (10) Information regarding any effects on the 

9 operation of the flight. 

10 (11) Information about maintenance work con11 ducted on the aircraft following the incident. 

12 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF REPORTS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently than 

14 quarterly and subject to paragraph (2), the Adminis15 trator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall 

16 compile and make available to the public the forms 

17 developed under subsection (a)(1) and submitted to 

18 the Federal Aviation Administration. 

19 (2) REDACTION.—Before making any forms 

20 available to the public under paragraph (1), the Ad21 ministrator shall redact any personally identifiable 

22 information. 

23 (d) WEBSITE.—The Administrator shall develop a 

24 publicly available Internet website that contains a publicly 

25 searchable database of information on incidents of smoke 


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1 or fumes on board aircraft operated by commercial air car2 riers that includes— 

3 (1) the materials required to be made available 

4 to the public under subsection (c)(1); 

5 (2) materials for training crew members under 

6 section 3; and 

7 (3) statistics with respect to such incidents, 

8 which shall be disaggregated by air carrier, aircraft 

9 type, engine type, oil type, cause, and such other cri10 teria as the Administrator considers appropriate. 

11 SEC. 5. INVESTIGATIONS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

13 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 

14 the Federal Aviation Administration shall prescribe regu15 lations requiring the Federal Aviation Administration to 

16 conduct an investigation described in subsection (b), after 

17 a report is submitted to the Administration through the 

18 system for reporting incidents of smoke or fumes on board 

19 aircraft established under section 4(a)(2) and before the 

20 date that is 7 days after the incident. 

21 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR INVESTIGATIONS.—An in22 vestigation described in this subsection shall include the 

23 following: 

24 (1) Gathering factual and standardized infor25 mation from all flight attendants, pilots, aircraft 


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1 maintenance technicians, airport first responders, 

2 emergency response teams, and medical doctors in3 volved in the incident. 

4 (2) Gathering any reports submitted under sec5 tion 4 with respect to the incident. 

6 (3) Gathering technical findings on any re7 placed, worn, missing, failed, or improperly serviced 

8 components that may have resulted in the incident. 

9 (4) Identifying the cause of the incident, if pos10 sible. 

11 (c) PARTICIPATION OF AIR CARRIERS AND COLLEC12 TIVE BARGAINING REPRESENTATIVES.—In conducting an 

13 investigation under this section, the Federal Aviation Ad14 ministration shall— 

15 (1) consult with the commercial air carrier in16 volved; 

17 (2) work in conjunction with the technical rep18 resentatives of the air carrier; and 

19 (3) invite the participation of the collective bar20 gaining representative of employees of the air car21 rier. 

22 SEC. 6. BLEED AIR MONITORING EQUIPMENT. 

23 (a) REQUIREMENT TO INCLUDE ON COMMERCIAL

24 AIRCRAFT.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the 

25 enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal 


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1 Aviation Administration shall prescribe regulations requir2 ing a commercial air carrier to install and operate, by not 

3 later than one year after the regulations are published in 

4 the Federal Register, a carbon monoxide detector on each 

5 bleed air stream in locations on the aircraft that include 

6 the cockpit, the cabin, crew rest areas, and each crew gal7 ley of each aircraft operated by the air carrier— 

8 (1) to continuously monitor carbon monoxide 

9 levels in the aircraft air supply system when the air10 craft is in flight; and 

11 (2) to alert the pilot and flight attendants in 

12 the event that carbon monoxide exceeds limits set 

13 forth in the national primary ambient air quality 

14 standards under section 50.8 of title 40, Code of 

15 Federal Regulations (or any corresponding similar 

16 regulation or ruling), adjusted for application at alti17 tude. 

18 (b) REQUIREMENT FOR A PILOT TO REPORT AN

19 ALARM.—The regulations prescribed under subsection (a) 

20 shall require a pilot to submit a form through the system 

21 for reporting incidents of smoke or fumes on board air22 craft established under section 4(a)(2) if the alarm in a 

23 carbon monoxide detector activates during flight. 

24 (c) INCLUSION OF INFORMATION RELATING TO CAR25 BON MONOXIDE DETECTORS IN AIRCRAFT MANUALS.— 


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1 Not later than one year after the date of the enactment 

2 of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Ad3 ministration shall prescribe regulations requiring an air4 craft manufacturer that manufactures aircraft for com5 mercial air carriers to include procedures for responding 

6 to alarms from carbon monoxide detectors during normal 

7 and nonstandard operations in the flight operator’s man8 ual for each such aircraft produced by the manufacturer. 

9 (d) CONTINUING RESEARCH TO DEVELOP SENSORS

10 AND TECHNIQUES TO MONITOR BLEED AIR QUALITY.— 

11 The Federal Aviation Administration shall continue to re12 search, study, and identify emerging technologies suitable 

13 to provide reliable warning of bleed air contamination, in14 cluding through investigation and research into specific 

15 sensors, methods, and operational techniques to prevent 

16 fume events. 

17 (e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec18 tion may be construed to imply that an investigation under 

19 section 5 is not necessary or that crew members and pas20 sengers have not been exposed to fumes if the alarm in 

21 a carbon monoxide detector installed on an aircraft is not 

22 activated. 


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1 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Fed3 eral Aviation Administration such sums as may be nec4 essary to carry out this Act. 

5 SEC. 8. EXCLUSION OF HELICOPTERS. 

6 The provisions of this Act do not apply to helicopters. 

Æ 


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