AIR CANADA~ 

Dockets- Dockets OST 98-3304 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

400 Seventh Street, S.W., Room PL 401 

Washington, DC 20590 

February 13, 2013 

Dear Sir: 

Please be advised that Air Canada has consolidated the carriers that fly flights on its 

behalf under the banner name Air Canada Express. These carriers are Jazz Aviation 

Limited Partnership, Air Georgian Limited and Sky Regional Airline Inc. Where 

these carriers operate on Air Canada's behalf, Air Canada will provide the support 

and assistance to survivors and families of passengers involved in an aircraft 

accident involving an aircraft operated by one of these entities. 

In order to reflect these changes, I submit the attached to the Secretary of 

Transportation and the Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board in 

accordance with 49 USCA §41313 and the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and 

Reform Act of the 21st Century. 

The attached outlines the procedures of Air Canada to address the needs of 

survivors and families of passengers involved in an aircraft accident in the United 

States involving an Air Canada or Air Canada Express carrier. 

I hope that this will be to your satisfaction. 

~tt~l Henry Bommer 

Air Canada 

Emergency Management 

' .~ .. ~·1 

A STAR ALLIANCE MEMBER ..,A)' ® 

MEMBRE DU RESEAU STAR ALLIANCE y..A.~ 
Family Support in the Event of an Aircraft Accident in the 

United States of America 

Air Canada 

Air Georgian Limited 

Jazz Aviation Limited Partnership 

Sky Regional Airline 

February 13, 2013 
Summary 

The following is submitted to the Secretary of Transportation and the Chairman of the 

National Transportation Safety Board in accordance with 49USCA §41313. 

The submission summaries the procedures of the Airline1 to address the needs of 

survivors and families of passengers involved in an aircraft accident in the United States. 

1 Pre-Response Planning 

Each Airline covered by this submission has a comprehensive Emergency Response Plan 

(the Plan) that outlines the actions that are to be taken by the Airline in the event of an 

aircraft accident. 

The Emergency Response Plan calls for the airport nearest the accident site to provide 

the initial response to the accident while the Corporate Emergency Response Team is 

assembled and dispatched to the site. The Corporate Emergency Response Team 

assumes responsibility for the response activities upon arrival at the site. All response 

efforts will be co-ordinated by the Airline's Emergency Response Centre. 

2 Training 

The Airlines covered by this submission have trained active and retired personnel to 

meet the needs of survivors and family members following an accident. Where an agent 

of the airline is expected to provide assistance to passengers and families of passengers 

following an accident, the Airline will ensure that the agent has been provided with 

adequate training. 

3 Working with Designated Organisations 

The Airline will work with the organisation designated pursuant to section 1136(a}(2} to 

provide assistance to families at the site of the aircraft accident. 

4 Handling Enquiries from the Family 

The Airline's Plan provides for the publication of a toll free telephone number, capable 

of receiving inquiries from the family members in Canada and the United States in the 

event of an aircraft accident. The toll free number will be answered by Air Canada's Call 

Centres, which are capable of re-routing incoming calls and can, if required, be 

dedicated solely to answering calls from family members. 

1 The term Airline as used in this document refers to Air Canada, Air Georgian Limited, 

Jazz Aviation Limited Partnership (d.b.a. Air Canada Express) and Sky Regional Airlines 

(d.b.a. Air Canada Express). 

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5 list of Passengers 

The Airline's Customer Journey Management department is responsible for locking out 

the passenger name list and passenger name record of passengers on the effected 

flight. Further, Customer Journey Management is responsible for reconciling this name 

list and producing the passenger manifest. 

Until the passenger name list has been verified, the passenger name list will be 

considered unconfirmed and will not be used to confirm the presence of a passenger on 

the flight. 

The passenger name list is a confidential document and as such is not to be distributed 

or copied without permission from the Director Emergency Response or his deputy. 

Customer Journey Management will distribute the passenger name list(s) to the 

following: 

• The Airline's Director Emergency Response 

• Air Canada's Call Centres 

• Air Canada's Special Assistance Centre 

• Codeshare and/or Alliance carriers (if required) 

Further, the passenger name list, containing the best information available at the time 

of the request, will be made available to the following agencies upon request: 

• National Transportation Safety Board of the United States 

• The organisation designated pursuant to section 1136(a)(2) 

• United States Department of State 

6 Notification of Families 

The Airline's Plan provides for notifying the families of passengers involved in an aircraft 

accident as soon as possible after the passenger has been verified as having boarded the 

aircraft. 

Notification will be performed based on contact information available in the Passenger 

Name record for the passengers on board the aircraft and, where required, Passenger 

Manifest Cards supplied by the passengers on boarding the aircraft. In the event that 

the passenger has not supplied contact information, staff in the Special Assistance 

Centre will attempt to determine a contact for the family of the passenger and contact 

the family. The time required to complete the process of notification of all of the 

families of passengers on board the aircraft involved in the accident is limited by the 

accuracy of the contact information that has been supplied by the passenger. 

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7 Travel and Care Expenses 

The Airline will transport to the site of the accident, at its expense, those family 

members that wish to be present at the site. 

Family members that have decided to travel tot the site ofthe accident will be provided 

with accommodations and will have all reasonable meal and travel expenses paid while 

at the site. 

8 Disposition of Remains and Personal Effects 

The Airline will ensure that the family of each deceased passenger is consulted about 

the disposition of the remains of the passenger. 

It is the Airline's intent to use a third party to handle the personal effects of passengers 

involved in the aircraft accident. 

The Airline will instruct that party to inform the family of the condition of the personal 

effects and to obtain from the family instructions for the return of the items. The Airline 

will respect the instructions provide by the family. 

Where there are personal effects that have not been claimed by the families of 

passengers, the effects will be photographed and a catalogue containing the 

photographs will be circulated to families. 

All unclaimed personal effects will be retained for a minimum of eighteen months. 

9 Monuments 

Should the Airline decide to erect, in the United States, a monument to the memory of 

passengers involved in an aircraft accident, the Airline will consult the families of the 

passengers as to the construction of, and inscription on, the monument. 

10 Equal Treatment of Passengers 

All passengers, including an employee of an air carrier or foreign air carrier aboard an 

aircraft and any person aboard the aircraft without regard to whether the person paid 

for the transportation, occupied a seat or held a reservation for the flight will be treated 

equally. 

11 Service and Assistance to Families and Passengers 

The Airline has a team of specially trained volunteers who will be responsible for 

ensuring that the physical needs of passengers and families of passengers are take care 

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of. This group of volunteers will work with organisations designated pursuant to section 

1136(a}(2). 

Where the passenger, or the family of a passenger, requires professional health 

services, the Airline will look to the agencies designated by the National Transportation 

Safety Board to ensure that these services are provided. 

12 Consultation Concerning Assistance to United States Citizens 

The Airline will, where it volunteers assistance to United States citizens within the 

United states with respect to an aircraft accident outside the United States involving 

major loss of life, consult with the National Transportation Safety Board and the 

Department of State on provision of assistance. 

13 Compensation to Service Organisations 

The Airline will provide reasonable compensation to the organisation designated 

pursuant to section 1136(a}(2) for services and assistance provided by that organisation. 

14 Notification to Owner of Property 

Where there is significant ground damage to non-government property, the Airline will 

notify the owner of property about liability for any property damage and the means for 

obtaining compensation. This notification shall advise the property owner to contact the 

property's insurer as the authoritative source about coverage and compensation, not to 

rely on unofficial information form the air carrier's representative about compensation 

by the air carrier for the accident-site property damage and to advise the property 

owner to obtain photographic or other evidence of property damage as soon as 

practicable after the accident, under reserve of restrictions on accessing the accident 

site. 

15 Simultaneous Transmission of NTSB Hearings 

The Airline will, where the NTSB conducts a public accident hearing at a location more 

than 80 miles for the accident site, ensure that the hearing will be available 

electronically live at the origin city and destination city, if that city is in the United 

States. 

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