Union Calendar No. 431

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3923

[Report No. 104–793]

A BILL

To amend title 49, United States Code, to require

aircraft accidents.the needs of families of passengers involved inindividual air carriers to take actions to addressthe National Transportation Safety Board and

SEPTEMBER 17, 1996

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Commitordered to be printed tee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and
IB

Union Calendar No. 431

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3923

[Report No. 104–793]

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

the needs of families of passengers involved in aircraft accidents.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 31, 1996

Mr. SHUSTER (for himself, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr.

HUTCHINSON, Mr. BAKER of California, Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey, Mr.

BLUTE, Mr. EHLERS, Mr. BACHUS, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr.

LATHAM, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr. MASCARA, Mr. LAZIO of

New York, and Mr. LAHOOD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

SEPTEMBER 17, 1996

Additional sponsors: Mr. RAHALL, Ms. MOLINARI, Mr. CLEMENT, Mr.

WELLER, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. FRISA, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. TRAFICANT, Mr.

CLINGER, Mrs. MEEK of Florida, Mr. COBLE, Mr. FROST, Mr. EHRLICH,

Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. MCDADE, Mrs.

SEASTRAND, Mr. BALDACCI, Mr. PETE GEREN of Texas, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. HALL of Ohio, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. PAYNE of

Virginia, Mr. GILLMOR, and Mr. EVANS

SEPTEMBER 17, 1996

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 31, 1996]
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A BILL

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

carriers to take actions to address the needs of families

of passengers involved in aircraft accidents.

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 ‘‘Aviation Disaster Fam5 ily Assistance Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. ASSISTANCE BY NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFE7 TY BOARD TO FAMILIES OF PASSENGERS IN8 VOLVED IN AIRCRAFT ACCIDENTS.

9 (a) AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 11

11 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding

12 at the end the following:

13 ‘‘§ 1136. Assistance to families of passengers involved

14 in aircraft accidents

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after being

16 notified of an aircraft accident within the United States

17 involving an air carrier or foreign air carrier and resulting

18 in a major loss of life, the Chairman of the National Trans19 portation Safety Board shall—

20 ‘‘(1) designate and publicize the name and phone

21 number of a director of family support services who
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1 shall be an employee of the Board and shall be re2 sponsible for acting as a point of contact within the

3 Federal Government for the families of passengers in4 volved in the accident and a liaison between the air

5 carrier or foreign air carrier and the families; and

6 ‘‘(2) designate an independent nonprofit organi7 zation, with experience in disasters and posttrauma

8 communication with families, which shall have pri9 mary responsibility for coordinating the emotional

10 care and support of the families of passengers in11 volved in the accident.

12 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE BOARD.—The Board

13 shall have primary Federal responsibility for facilitating

14 the recovery and identification of fatally-injured passengers

15 involved in an accident described in subsection (a).

16 ‘‘(c) RESPONSIBILITIES OF DESIGNATED ORGANIZA17 TION.—The organization designated for an accident under

18 subsection (a)(2) shall have the following responsibilities

19 with respect to the families of passengers involved in the

20 accident:

21 ‘‘(1) To provide mental health and counseling

22 services, in coordination with the disaster response

23 team of the air carrier or foreign air carrier involved.
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1 ‘‘(2) To take such actions as may be necessary

2 to provide an environment in which the families may

3 grieve in private.

4 ‘‘(3) To meet with the families who have traveled

5 to the location of the accident, to contact the families

6 unable to travel to such location, and to contact all

7 affected families periodically thereafter until such

8 time as the organization, in consultation with the di9 rector of family support services designated for the ac10 cident under subsection (a)(1), determines that fur11 ther assistance is no longer needed.

12 ‘‘(4) To communicate with the families as to the

13 roles of the organization, government agencies, and

14 the air carrier or foreign air carrier involved with re15 spect to the accident and the post-accident activities.

16 ‘‘(5) To arrange a suitable memorial service, in

17 consultation with the families.

18 ‘‘(d) PASSENGER LISTS.—

19 ‘‘(1) REQUESTS FOR PASSENGER LISTS.—

20 ‘‘(A) REQUESTS BY DIRECTOR OF FAMILY

21 SUPPORT SERVICES.—It shall be the responsibil22 ity of the director of family support services des23 ignated for an accident under subsection (a)(1)

24 to request, as soon as practicable, from the air

25 carrier or foreign air carrier involved in the ac-
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1 cident a list, which is based on the best available

2 information at the time of the request, of the

3 names of the passengers that were aboard the

4 aircraft involved in the accident.

5 ‘‘(B) REQUESTS BY DESIGNATED ORGANIZA6 TION.—The organization designated for an acci7 dent under subsection (a)(2) may request from

8 the air carrier or foreign air carrier involved in

9 the accident a list described in subparagraph

10 (A).

11 ‘‘(2) USE OF INFORMATION.—The director of

12 family support services and the organization may not

13 release to any person information on a list obtained

14 under paragraph (1) but may provide information on

15 the list about a passenger to the family of the pas16 senger to the extent that the director of family support

17 services or the organization considers appropriate.

18 ‘‘(e) CONTINUING RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE

19 BOARD.—In the course of its investigation of an accident

20 described in subsection (a), the Board shall, to the maxi21 mum extent practicable, ensure that the families of pas22 sengers involved in the accident—

23 ‘‘(1) are briefed, prior to any public briefing,

24 about the accident, its causes, and any other findings

25 from the investigation; and
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1 ‘‘(2) are individually informed of and allowed to

2 attend any public hearings and meetings of the Board

3 about the accident.

4 ‘‘(f) USE OF AIR CARRIER RESOURCES.—To the extent

5 practicable, the organization designated for an accident

6 under subsection (a)(2) shall coordinate its activities with

7 the air carrier or foreign air carrier involved in the acci8 dent so that the resources of the carrier can be used to the

9 greatest extent possible to carry out the organization’s re10 sponsibilities under this section.

11 ‘‘(g) PROHIBITED ACTIONS.—

12 ‘‘(1) ACTIONS TO IMPEDE THE BOARD.—No per13 son (including a State or political subdivision) may

14 impede the ability of the Board (including the direc15 tor of family support services designated for an acci16 dent under subsection (a)(1)), or an organization des17 ignated for an accident under subsection (a)(2), to

18 carry out its responsibilities under this section or the

19 ability of the families of passengers involved in the

20 accident to have contact with one another.

21 ‘‘(2) UNSOLICITED COMMUNICATIONS.—In the

22 event of an accident involving an air carrier provid23 ing interstate or foreign air transportation, no unso24 licited communication concerning a potential action

25 for personal injury or wrongful death may be made
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1 by an attorney, representative of an attorney, insur2 ance company, or air carrier litigation representative

3 to an individual injured in the accident, or to a rel4 ative of an individual involved in the accident, before

5 the 30th day following the date of the accident.

6 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi7 nitions apply:

8 ‘‘(1) AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT.—The term ‘aircraft

9 accident’ means any aviation disaster regardless of its

10 cause or suspected cause.

11 ‘‘(2) PASSENGER.—The term ‘passenger’ includes

12 an employee of an air carrier aboard an aircraft.’’.

13 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec14 tions for chapter 11 of such title is amended by in15 serting after the item relating to section 1135 the fol16 lowing:

‘‘1136. Assistance to families of passengers involved in aircraft accidents.’’.

17 (b) PENALTIES.—Section 1155(a)(1) of such title is

18 amended—

19 (1) by striking ‘‘or 1134(b) or (f)(1)’’ and insert20 ing ‘‘, section 1134(b), section 1134(f)(1), or section

21 1136(g)’’; and

22 (2) by striking ‘‘either of’’ and inserting ‘‘any

23 of’’.
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1 SEC. 3. AIR CARRIER PLANS TO ADDRESS NEEDS OF FAMI2 LIES OF PASSENGERS INVOLVED IN AIR3 CRAFT ACCIDENTS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 411 of title 49, United

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

6 ‘‘§ 41113. Plans to address needs of families of pas7 sengers involved in aircraft accidents

8 ‘‘(a) SUBMISSION OF PLANS.—Not later than 6 months

9 after the date of the enactment of this section, each air car10 rier holding a certificate of public convenience and necessity

11 under section 41102 of this title shall submit to the Sec12 retary and the Chairman of the National Transportation

13 Safety Board a plan for addressing the needs of the families

14 of passengers involved in any aircraft accident involving

15 an aircraft of the air carrier and resulting in a major loss

16 of life.

17 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS OF PLANS.—A plan to be submitted

18 by an air carrier under subsection (a) shall include, at a

19 minimum, the following:

20 ‘‘(1) A plan for publicizing a reliable, toll-free

21 telephone number, and for providing staff, to handle

22 calls from the families of the passengers.

23 ‘‘(2) A process for notifying the families of the

24 passengers, before providing any public notice of the

25 names of the passengers, either by utilizing the serv26 ices of the organization designated for the accident
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1 under section 1136(a)(2) of this title or the services

2 of other suitably trained individuals.

3 ‘‘(3) An assurance that the notice described in

4 paragraph (2) will be provided to the family of a pas5 senger as soon as the air carrier has verified that the

6 passenger was aboard the aircraft (whether or not the

7 names of all of the passengers have been verified) and,

8 to the extent practicable, in person.

9 ‘‘(4) An assurance that the air carrier will pro10 vide to the director of family support services des11 ignated for the accident under section 1136(a)(1) of

12 this title, and to the organization designated for the

13 accident under section 1136(a)(2) of this title, imme14 diately upon request, a list (which is based on the best

15 available information at the time of the request) of

16 the names of the passengers aboard the aircraft

17 (whether or not such names have been verified), and

18 will periodically update the list.

19 ‘‘(5) An assurance that the family of each pas20 senger will be consulted about the disposition of all

21 remains and personal effects of the passenger.

22 ‘‘(6) An assurance that if requested by the family

23 of a passenger, any possession of the passenger within

24 the control of the air carrier (regardless of its condi25 tion) will be returned to the family unless the posses-
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1 sion is needed for the accident investigation or any

2 criminal investigation.

3 ‘‘(7) An assurance that any unclaimed posses4 sion of a passenger within the control of the air car5 rier will be retained by the air carrier for at least 18

6 months.

7 ‘‘(8) An assurance that the family of each pas8 senger will be consulted about construction by the air

9 carrier of any monument to the passengers, including

10 any inscription on the monument.

11 ‘‘(9) An assurance that the treatment of the fam12 ilies of nonrevenue passengers (and any other victim

13 of the accident) will be the same as the treatment of

14 the families of revenue passengers.

15 ‘‘(10) An assurance that the air carrier will

16 work with any organization designated under section

17 1136(a)(2) of this title on an ongoing basis to ensure

18 that families of passengers receive an appropriate

19 level of services and assistance following each acci20 dent.

21 ‘‘(11) An assurance that the air carrier will pro22 vide reasonable compensation to any organization

23 designated under section 1136(a)(2) of this title for

24 services provided by the organization.
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1 ‘‘(12) An assurance that the air carrier will as2 sist the family of a passenger in traveling to the loca3 tion of the accident and provide for the physical care

4 of the family while the family is staying at such loca5 tion.

6 ‘‘(13) An assurance that the air carrier will

7 commit sufficient resources to carry out the plan.

8 ‘‘(c) CERTIFICATE REQUIREMENT.—After the date that

9 is 6 months after the date of the enactment of this section,

10 the Secretary may not approve an application for a certifi11 cate of public convenience and necessity under section

12 41102 of this title unless the applicant has included as part

13 of such application a plan that meets the requirements of

14 subsection (b).

15 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY.—An air carrier shall

16 not be liable for damages in any action brought in a Fed17 eral or State court arising out of the performance of the

18 air carrier in preparing or providing a passenger list pur19 suant to a plan submitted by the air carrier under sub20 section (b), unless such liability was caused by conduct of

21 the air carrier which was grossly negligent or which con22 stituted intentional misconduct.

23 ‘‘(e) AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT AND PASSENGER DE24 FINED.—In this section, the terms ‘aircraft accident’ and
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1 ‘passenger’ have the meanings such terms have in section

2 1136 of this title.’’.

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

4 for such chapter is amended by adding at the end the follow5 ing:

‘‘41113. Plans to address needs of families of passengers involved in aircraft accidents.’’.

6 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF TASK FORCE.

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Transpor8 tation, in cooperation with the National Transportation

9 Safety Board, the Federal Emergency Management Agency,

10 the American Red Cross, air carriers, and families which

11 have been involved in aircraft accidents shall establish a

12 task force consisting of representatives of such entities and

13 families, representatives of air carrier employees, and rep14 resentatives of such other entities as the Secretary considers

15 appropriate.

16 (b) MODEL PLAN AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—The task

17 force established pursuant to subsection (a) shall develop—

18 (1) a model plan to assist air carriers in re19 sponding to aircraft accidents;

20 (2) recommendations on methods to ensure that

21 attorneys and representatives of media organizations

22 do not intrude on the privacy of families of pas23 sengers involved in an aircraft accident;
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1 (3) recommendations on methods to ensure that

2 the families of passengers involved in an aircraft ac3 cident who are not citizens of the United States re4 ceive appropriate assistance;

5 (4) recommendations on methods to ensure that

6 State mental health licensing laws do not act to pre7 vent out-of-state mental health workers from working

8 at the site of an aircraft accident or other related

9 sites;

10 (5) recommendations on the extent to which

11 military experts and facilities can be used to aid in

12 the identification of the remains of passengers in13 volved in an aircraft accident; and

14 (6) recommendations on methods to improve the

15 timeliness of the notification provided by air carriers

16 to the families of passengers involved in an aircraft

17 accident, including—

18 (A) an analysis of the steps that air car19 riers would have to take to ensure that an accu20 rate list of passengers on board the aircraft

21 would be available within 1 hour of the accident

22 and an analysis of such steps to ensure that such

23 list would be available within 3 hours of the ac24 cident;
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1 (B) an analysis of the added costs to air

2 carriers and travel agents that would result if

3 air carriers were required to take the steps de4 scribed in subparagraph (A); and

5 (C) an analysis of any inconvenience to

6 passengers, including flight delays, that would

7 result if air carriers were required to take the

8 steps described in subparagraph (A).

9 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date of

10 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall transmit to

11 Congress a report containing the model plan and rec12 ommendations developed by the task force under subsection

13 (b).

14 SEC. 5. LIMITATION ON STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.

15 Nothing in this Act or any amendment made by this

16 Act may be construed as limiting the actions that an air

17 carrier may take, or the obligations that an air carrier may

18 have, in providing assistance to the families of passengers

19 involved in an aircraft accident.