II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1196

To amend title 49, United States Code, to require the National Transportation Safety Board and individual foreign air carriers to address the

needs of families of passengers involved in aircraft accidents involving

foreign air carriers.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 18, 1997

Mr. MCCAIN (for himself, Mr. GORTON, Mr. HOLLINGS, and Mr. FORD) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To amend title 49, United States Code, to require the National Transportation Safety Board and individual foreign air carriers to address the needs of families of

passengers involved in aircraft accidents involving foreign

air carriers.

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 ‘‘Foreign Air Carrier

5 Family Support Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. PLANS TO ADDRESS NEEDS OF FAMILIES OF PAS2 SENGERS INVOLVED IN FOREIGN AIR CAR3 RIER ACCIDENTS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 413 of title 49, United

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow6 ing:

7 ‘‘§ 41313. Plans to address needs of families of pas8 sengers involved in aircraft accidents

9 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

10 ‘‘(1) the term ‘aircraft accident’ means any

11 aviation disaster, regardless of its cause or suspected

12 cause, that occurs within the United States; and

13 ‘‘(2) the term ‘passenger’ includes an employee

14 of a foreign air carrier or air carrier aboard an air15 craft.

16 ‘‘(b) SUBMISSION OF PLANS.—A foreign air carrier

17 providing foreign air transportation under this chapter, or

18 under an exemption from the requirements of this chapter,

19 shall transmit to the Secretary and the Chairman of the

20 National Transportation Safety Board a plan for address21 ing the needs of the families of passengers involved in an

22 aircraft accident that involves an aircraft under the con23 trol of the foreign air carrier and results in a significant

24 loss of life.

25 ‘‘(c) CONTENTS OF PLANS.—To the extent permitted

26 by foreign law which was enacted on or before the date
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1 of the enactment of this section, a plan submitted by a

2 foreign air carrier under subsection (b) shall include the

3 following:

4 ‘‘(1) TELEPHONE NUMBER.—A plan for pub5 licizing a reliable, toll-free telephone number and

6 staff to take calls to such number from families of

7 passengers involved in an aircraft accident that in8 volves an aircraft under the control of the foreign air

9 carrier and results in a significant loss of life.

10 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION OF FAMILIES.—A process

11 for notifying, in person to the extent practicable, the

12 families of passengers involved in an aircraft acci13 dent that involves an aircraft under the control of

14 the foreign air carrier and results in a significant

15 loss of life before providing any public notice of the

16 names of such passengers. Such notice shall be pro17 vided by using the services of—

18 ‘‘(A) the organization designated for the

19 accident under section 1136(a)(2); or

20 ‘‘(B) other suitably trained individuals.

21 ‘‘(3) NOTICE PROVIDED AS SOON AS POS22 SIBLE.—An assurance that the notice required by

23 paragraph (2) shall be provided as soon as prac24 ticable after the foreign air carrier has verified the

25 identity of a passenger on the foreign aircraft,
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1 whether or not the names of all of the passengers

2 have been verified.

3 ‘‘(4) LIST OF PASSENGERS.—An assurance that

4 the foreign air carrier shall, immediately upon re5 quest, provide and update a list (based on the best

6 available information at the time of the request) of

7 the names of the passengers aboard the aircraft

8 (whether or not such names have been verified),

9 to—

10 ‘‘(A) the director of family support services

11 designated for the accident under section

12 1136(a)(1); and

13 ‘‘(B) the organization designated for the

14 accident under section 1136(a)(2).

15 ‘‘(5) CONSULTATION REGARDING DISPOSITION

16 OF REMAINS AND EFFECTS.—An assurance that the

17 family of each passenger will be consulted about the

18 disposition of any remains and personal effects of

19 the passenger that are within the control of the for20 eign air carrier.

21 ‘‘(6) RETURN OF POSSESSIONS.—An assurance

22 that, if requested by the family of a passenger, any

23 possession (regardless of its condition) of that pas24 senger that is within the control of the foreign air

25 carrier will be returned to the family unless the pos-
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1 session is needed for the accident investigation or a

2 criminal investigation.

3 ‘‘(7) UNCLAIMED POSSESSIONS RETAINED.—An

4 assurance that any unclaimed possession of a pas5 senger within the control of the foreign air carrier

6 will be retained by the foreign air carrier for not less

7 than 18 months after the date of the accident.

8 ‘‘(8) MONUMENTS.—An assurance that the

9 family of each passenger will be consulted about con10 struction by the foreign air carrier of any monument

11 to the passengers built in the United States, includ12 ing any inscription on the monument.

13 ‘‘(9) EQUAL TREATMENT OF PASSENGERS.—An

14 assurance that the treatment of the families of non15 revenue passengers will be the same as the treat16 ment of the families of revenue passengers.

17 ‘‘(10) SERVICE AND ASSISTANCE TO FAMILIES

18 OF PASSENGERS.—An assurance that the foreign air

19 carrier will work with any organization designated

20 under section 1136(a)(2) on an ongoing basis to en21 sure that families of passengers receive an appro22 priate level of services and assistance following an

23 accident.

24 ‘‘(11) COMPENSATION TO SERVICE ORGANIZA25 TIONS.—An assurance that the foreign air carrier
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1 will provide reasonable compensation to any organi2 zation designated under section 1136(a)(2) for serv3 ices and assistance provided by the organization.

4 ‘‘(12) TRAVEL AND CARE EXPENSES.—An as5 surance that the foreign air carrier will assist the

6 family of any passenger in traveling to the location

7 of the accident and provide for the physical care of

8 the family while the family is staying at such loca9 tion.

10 ‘‘(13) RESOURCES FOR PLAN.—An assurance

11 that the foreign air carrier will commit sufficient

12 resources to carry out the plan.

13 ‘‘(14) SUBSTITUTE MEASURES.—If a foreign air

14 carrier does not wish to comply with paragraphs

15 (10), (11), or (12), a description of proposed ade16 quate substitute measures for the requirements of

17 each paragraph with which the foreign air carrier

18 does not wish to comply.

19 ‘‘(d) PERMIT AND EXEMPTION REQUIREMENT.—The

20 Secretary shall not approve an application for a permit

21 under section 41302, or provide an exemption from the

22 requirement for a permit, unless the applicant has in23 cluded as part of the application or request for exemption

24 a plan that meets the requirements of subsection (c).
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1 ‘‘(e) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY.—A foreign air car2 rier shall not be liable for damages in any action brought

3 in a Federal or State court arising out of the performance

4 of the foreign air carrier in preparing or providing a pas5 senger list pursuant to a plan submitted by the foreign

6 air carrier under subsection (c), unless the liability was

7 caused by conduct of the foreign air carrier which was

8 grossly negligent or which constituted intentional mis9 conduct.’’.

10 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (a) shall take ef11 fect 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act.

12 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec13 tions for chapter 413 is amended by adding at the end

14 the following:

‘‘41313. Plans to address needs of families of passengers involved in foreign air

carrier accidents.’’.

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