Title: Volunteer Pilot Protection Act of 2017
Policy area: Law

Summary:
Volunteer Pilot Protection Act of 2017
This bill amends the Volunteer Protection Act of 1997 to protect a volunteer pilot from civil liability for harm caused while operating an aircraft on behalf of a nonprofit organization that arranges flights for public benefit.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1431 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1431

 To provide liability protection for volunteer pilots who fly for the 
                public benefit, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 26, 2017

   Mr. Inhofe (for himself, Mr. King, and Mr. Rounds) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide liability protection for volunteer pilots who fly for the 
                public benefit, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Volunteer Pilot Protection Act of 
2017''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Many volunteer pilots fly for the public benefit for 
        nonprofit organizations and provide valuable services to 
        communities and individuals in need.
            (2) In each calendar year volunteer pilots and the 
        nonprofit organizations those pilots fly for provide long-
        distance, no-cost transportation for tens of thousands of 
        people during times of special need. Flights provide patient 
        and medical transport, disaster relief, and humanitarian 
        assistance, and conduct other charitable missions that benefit 
        the public.
            (3) Such nonprofit organizations have supported the 
        homeland security of the United States by providing volunteer 
        pilot services during and following disasters and during other 
        times of national emergency.
            (4) Most other kinds of volunteers are protected from 
        liability by the Volunteer Protection Act of 1997 (42 U.S.C. 
        14501 et seq.), but volunteer pilots are not.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are to amend the Volunteer 
Protection Act of 1997--
            (1) to extend the protection of that Act to volunteer 
        pilots;
            (2) to promote the activities of volunteer pilots and the 
        nonprofit organizations those pilots fly for in providing 
        flights for the public benefit; and
            (3) to sustain and enhance the availability of the services 
        that such pilots and nonprofit organizations provide, 
        including--
                    (A) transportation at no cost to financially needy 
                medical patients for medical treatment, evaluation, and 
                diagnosis;
                    (B) flights for humanitarian and charitable 
                purposes; and
                    (C) other flights of compassion.

SEC. 3. LIABILITY PROTECTION FOR VOLUNTEER PILOTS WHO FLY FOR THE 
              PUBLIC BENEFIT.

    Section 4 of the Volunteer Protection Act of 1997 (42 U.S.C. 14503) 
is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsections (b) through (f) as 
        subsections (c) through (g), respectively;
            (2) in subsection (a), by striking ``subsections (b) and 
        (d)'' and inserting ``subsections (b), (c), and (e)'';
            (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the following:
    ``(b) Liability Protection for Pilots That Fly for Public 
Benefit.--Except as provided in subsections (c) and (e), no volunteer 
of a volunteer pilot nonprofit organization that arranges flights for 
public benefit shall be liable for harm caused by an act or omission of 
the volunteer on behalf of the organization if, at the time of the act 
or omission, the volunteer--
            ``(1) was operating an aircraft in furtherance of the 
        purpose of, and acting within the scope of the volunteer's 
        responsibilities on behalf of, the nonprofit organization;
            ``(2) was properly licensed and insured for the operation 
        of the aircraft;
            ``(3) was in compliance with all requirements of the 
        Federal Aviation Administration for recent flight experience; 
        and
            ``(4) did not cause the harm through willful or criminal 
        misconduct, gross negligence, reckless misconduct, or a 
        conscious, flagrant indifference to the rights or safety of the 
        individual harmed by the volunteer.''; and
            (4) in subsection (g)(2), as redesignated, by striking 
        ``(e)'' and inserting ``(f)''.
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