REQUIRED UPDATES TO FAMILY ASSISTANCE PLANS AND POST-ACCIDENT NOTICES
December 3, 2018
The recently passed FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 contained several changes to the scope of assistance plans for families of air crash victims (i.e. Family Assistance Plans), which each airline operating flights to, from, or within the United States must have in place and on file with the U.S. Department of Transportation and National Transportation Safety Board. Specifically, Congress struck the words “major” or “significant” loss of life and replaced them with the word “any”. The effect of this modification is to lower the threshold at which Family Assistance Plan obligations are triggered – namely, Plan activation is required upon “any” loss of life. Additionally, airlines are also now required to assist the families of people on the ground who are seriously or fatally injured, as opposed to just those that were on the aircraft.
Congress also tightened the requirement for airlines to inform property owners on the ground of damage caused by an accident, making a similar substitution of “any” for “significant”. In the case of an accident that results in any damage to a man-made structure or other property on the ground, the carrier should promptly provide notice to the affected property owner.
As a result of the above, carriers must review their plans and adjust as needed to comply with these new requirements. Please contact us for further details on compliance with the new requirements.
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6622); Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6665), or Alexander Matthews (amatthews@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6633).
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