[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1199 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1199
To increase the safety of the crew and passengers in air ambulances.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 8, 2009
Ms. Cantwell introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To increase the safety of the crew and passengers in air ambulances.
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 ``Air Medical Service Safety
Improvement Act of 2009''.
SEC. 2. INCREASING SAFETY FOR HELICOPTER AND FIXED-WING EMERGENCY
MEDICAL SERVICE OPERATORS AND PATIENTS.
(a) Compliance Regulations.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), not
later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act,
helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft certificate holders
providing emergency medical services shall comply with part 135
of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, if there is a medical
crew on board, without regard to whether there are patients on
board.
(2) Exception.--If a certificate holder described in
paragraph (1) is operating under instrument flight rules or is
carrying out training therefor--
(A) the weather minimums and duty and rest time
regulations under such part 135 of such title shall
apply; and
(B) the weather reporting requirement at the
destination shall not apply until such time as the
Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration
determines that portable, reliable, and accurate
ground-based weather measuring and reporting systems
are available.
(b) Implementation of Flight Risk Evaluation Program.--
(1) Initiation.--Not later than 60 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal
Aviation Administration shall initiate a rulemaking--
(A) to create a standardized checklist of risk
evaluation factors based on Notice 8000.301, which was
issued by the Administration on August 1, 2005; and
(B) to require helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft
emergency medical service operators to use the
checklist created under subparagraph (A) to determine
whether a mission should be accepted.
(2) Completion.--The rulemaking initiated under paragraph
(1) shall be completed not later than 18 months after it such
initiation.
(c) Comprehensive Consistent Flight Dispatch Procedures.--
(1) Initiation.--Not later than 60 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal
Aviation Administration shall initiate a rulemaking--
(A) to require that helicopter and fixed-wing
emergency medical service operators formalize and
implement performance-based flight dispatch and flight
following procedures; and
(B) to develop a method to assess and ensure that
such operators comply with the requirements described
in subparagraph (A).
(2) Completion.--The rulemaking initiated under paragraph
(1) shall be completed not later than 18 months after it such
initiation.
(d) Improving Situational Awareness.--Not later than one year after
the date of enactment of this Act, any helicopter or fixed-wing
aircraft used for emergency medical service shall have on board a
device that performs the function of a terrain awareness and warning
system and a means of displaying that information that meets the
requirements of the applicable Federal Aviation Administration
Technical Standard Order or other guidance prescribed by the
Administrator.
(e) Improving the Data Available on Air Medical Operations.--
(1) In general.--The Administrator of the Federal Aviation
Administration shall require each certificate holder for
helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft used for emergency medical
service operations to report not later than 1 year after the
date of enactment of this Act and annually thereafter on--
(A) the number of aircraft and helicopters used to
provide air ambulance services, the registration number
of each of these aircraft or helicopters, and the base
location of each of these aircraft or helicopters;
(B) the number of flights and hours flown by each
such aircraft or helicopter used by the certificate
holder to provide such services during the reporting
period; and
(C) the number of flights and the purpose of each
flight for each aircraft or helicopter used by the
certificate holder to provide such services during the
reporting period.
(2) Report to Congress.--The Administrator of the Federal
Aviation Administration shall report to Congress on the
information received pursuant to paragraph (1) of this
subsection no later than 18 months after the date of enactment
of this Act.
(f) Improving the Data Available to NTSB Investigators at Crash
Sites.--
(1) Study.--Not later than 120 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal
Aviation Administration shall issue a report that indicates the
availability, survivability, size, weight, and cost of devices
that perform the function of recording voice communications and
flight data information on existing and new helicopters and
existing and new fixed-wing aircraft used for emergency medical
service operations.
(2) Rulemaking.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal
Aviation Administration shall issue regulations that require
devices that perform the function of recording voice
communications and flight data information on board aircraft
described in paragraph (1).
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