49 U.S.C. § 41113 — Plans to address needs of families of passengers involved in aircraft accidents
submitted 30 years ago by Pub. L. 104-264 to r/title-49-TRANSPORTATION · 1,137 words · no verdicts yet
Airlines must file a detailed plan with the government for supporting families after a fatal crash - covering notification, returning belongings, travel help, and more - and cannot get a certificate without one, though they get limited legal protection for good-faith mistakes handling passenger lists.
(a) Submission of Plans: Every air carrier holding a section 41102 certificate must submit to the Secretary and the Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board a plan for supporting the families of passengers involved in any fatal accident involving that carrier's aircraft.
(b) Contents of Plans: The plan must include at least 18 elements, such as: (1) publicizing a toll-free number staffed to handle family calls; (2) a process to notify families before any public release of passenger names, using the accident's designated organization or other trained people; (3) a promise to notify a passenger's family as soon as the carrier confirms they were aboard, in person when practical, even before all names are confirmed; (4) a promise to give the accident's designated family-support director and organization the best-available passenger list on request, updated periodically; (5) consulting families about what happens to remains and personal belongings; (6) returning a passenger's belongings to the family on request, regardless of condition, unless needed for an investigation; (7) keeping unclaimed belongings for at least 18 months; (8) consulting families about any memorial and its inscription; (9) treating families of non-paying ("nonrevenue") passengers and other victims the same as paying passengers' families; (10) working with the designated organization on an ongoing basis so families get proper support; (11) paying that organization reasonable compensation for its services; (12) helping families travel to the accident site and caring for them while there; (13) committing enough resources to carry out the plan; (14) telling a family, on request, whether their passenger's name was on a preliminary manifest; (15) training employees and agents to meet survivors' and families' needs; (16) consulting the Safety Board and the Department of State if, after an aircraft accident outside the United States involving a loss of life, the carrier volunteers assistance to United States citizens within the United States; (17) for an accident that damages a manmade structure or other non-government-owned property on the ground, promptly providing the owner, to the extent practicable, written notice directly about liability for the damage and how to obtain compensation - including telling the owner to contact the property's insurer for authoritative information, not rely on unofficial information from carrier representatives about compensation, and obtain photographs or other detailed evidence of the damage as soon as possible, subject to accident-site access restrictions; and (18) if the National Transportation Safety Board conducts a public hearing or comparable proceeding for an accident at a location more than 80 miles from the accident site, ensuring that the proceeding is available simultaneously by electronic means at a location open to the public in both the flight's origin city and destination city, if that city is in the United States.
(c) Certificate Requirement: The Secretary cannot approve a certificate application unless it includes a plan meeting subsection (b)'s requirements.
(d) Limitation on Liability: An airline is not liable in federal or state court for how it prepared or provided a passenger list or preliminary manifest information under its plan, unless its conduct was grossly negligent or intentional misconduct.
(e) Aircraft Accident and Passenger Defined: These terms have the same meaning here as in section 1136.
(f) Statutory Construction: Nothing in this section limits what else an airline may do, or what other duties it may have, in helping families after an aircraft accident.
Each air carrier holding a certificate of public convenience and necessity under section 41102 of this title shall submit to the Secretary and the Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board a plan for addressing the needs of the families of passengers involved in any aircraft accident involving an aircraft of the air carrier and resulting in any loss of life.
A plan to be submitted by an air carrier under subsection (a) shall include, at a minimum, the following:
A plan for publicizing a reliable, toll-free telephone number, and for providing staff, to handle calls from the families of the passengers.
A process for notifying the families of the passengers, before providing any public notice of the names of the passengers, either by utilizing the services of the organization designated for the accident under section 1136(a)(2) of this title or the services of other suitably trained individuals.
An assurance that the notice described in paragraph (2) will be provided to the family of a passenger as soon as the air carrier has verified that the passenger was aboard the aircraft (whether or not the names of all of the passengers have been verified) and, to the extent practicable, in person.
An assurance that the air carrier will provide to the director of family support services designated for the accident under section 1136(a)(1) of this title, and to the organization designated for the accident under section 1136(a)(2) of this title, immediately upon request, a list (which is based on the best available information at the time of the request) of the names of the passengers aboard the aircraft (whether or not such names have been verified), and will periodically update the list.
An assurance that the family of each passenger will be consulted about the disposition of all remains and personal effects of the passenger within the control of the air carrier.
An assurance that if requested by the family of a passenger, any possession of the passenger within the control of the air carrier (regardless of its condition) will be returned to the family unless the possession is needed for the accident investigation or any criminal investigation.
An assurance that any unclaimed possession of a passenger within the control of the air carrier will be retained by the air carrier for at least 18 months.
An assurance that the family of each passenger will be consulted about construction by the air carrier of any monument to the passengers, including any inscription on the monument.
An assurance that the treatment of the families of nonrevenue passengers (and any other victim of the accident, including any victim on the ground) will be the same as the treatment of the families of revenue passengers.
An assurance that the air carrier will work with any organization designated under section 1136(a)(2) of this title on an ongoing basis to ensure that families of passengers receive an appropriate level of services and assistance following each accident.
An assurance that the air carrier will provide reasonable compensation to any organization designated under section 1136(a)(2) of this title for services provided by the organization.
An assurance that the air carrier will assist the family of a passenger in traveling to the location of the accident and provide for the physical care of the family while the family is staying at such location.
An assurance that the air carrier will commit sufficient resources to carry out the plan.
An assurance that, upon request of the family of a passenger, the air carrier will inform the family of whether the passenger’s name appeared on a preliminary passenger manifest for the flight involved in the accident.
An assurance that the air carrier will provide adequate training to the employees and agents of the carrier to meet the needs of survivors and family members following an accident.
An assurance that the air carrier, in the event that the air carrier volunteers assistance to United States citizens within the United States with respect to an aircraft accident outside the United States involving any loss of life, will consult with the Board and the Department of State on the provision of the assistance.
An assurance that, in the case of an accident that results in any damage to a manmade structure or other property on the ground that is not government-owned, the air carrier will promptly provide notice, in writing, to the extent practicable, directly to the owner of the structure or other property about liability for any property damage and means for obtaining compensation.
At a minimum, the written notice shall advise an owner (i) to contact the insurer of the property as the authoritative source for information about coverage and compensation; (ii) to not rely on unofficial information offered by air carrier representatives about compensation by the air carrier for accident-site property damage; and (iii) to obtain photographic or other detailed evidence of property damage as soon as possible after the accident, consistent with restrictions on access to the accident site.
An assurance that, in the case of an accident in which the National Transportation Safety Board conducts a public hearing or comparable proceeding at a location greater than 80 miles from the accident site, the air carrier will ensure that the proceeding is made available simultaneously by electronic means at a location open to the public at both the origin city and destination city of the air carrier’s flight if that city is located in the United States.
The Secretary may not approve an application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity under section 41102 of this title unless the applicant has included as part of such application a plan that meets the requirements of subsection (b).
An air carrier shall not be liable for damages in any action brought in a Federal or State court arising out of the performance of the air carrier in preparing or providing a passenger list, or in providing information concerning a preliminary passenger manifest, pursuant to a plan submitted by the air carrier under subsection (b), unless such liability was caused by conduct of the air carrier which was grossly negligent or which constituted intentional misconduct.
In this section, the terms “aircraft accident” and “passenger” have the meanings such terms have in section 1136 of this title.
Nothing in this section may be construed as limiting the actions that an air carrier may take, or the obligations that an air carrier may have, in providing assistance to the families of passengers involved in an aircraft accident.
Source credit: (Added Pub. L. 104–264, title VII, § 703(a), Oct. 9, 1996, 110 Stat. 3267; amended Pub. L. 106–181, title IV, § 402(a)(1)–(3), (5)–(c), Apr. 5, 2000, 114 Stat. 129, 130; Pub. L. 108–176, title VIII, § 809(a), Dec. 12, 2003, 117 Stat. 2588; Pub. L. 115–254, div. C, § 1109(a), Oct. 5, 2018, 132 Stat. 3434.)
- 1996Enacted · Pub. L. 104-264 · 110 Stat. 3267
- 2000Amended · Pub. L. 106-181 · 114 Stat. 129, 130
- 2003Amended · Pub. L. 108-176 · 117 Stat. 2588
- 2018Amended · Pub. L. 115-254 · 132 Stat. 3434
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 104-264 on 1996-10-09.
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