49 USC 1136(d): Passenger lists

          
Sec. 1136. Assistance to families of passengers involved in 
        aircraft accidents
        
    (a) In General.--As soon as practicable after being notified of an 
aircraft accident within the United States involving an air carrier or 
foreign air carrier and resulting in a major loss of life, the Chairman 
of the National Transportation Safety Board shall--
        (1) designate and publicize the name and phone number of a 
    director of family support services who shall be an employee of the 
    Board and shall be responsible for acting as a point of contact 
    within the Federal Government for the families of passengers 
    involved in the accident and a liaison between the air carrier or 
    foreign air carrier and the families; and
        (2) designate an independent nonprofit organization, with 
    experience in disasters and posttrauma communication with families, 
    which shall have primary responsibility for coordinating the 
    emotional care and support of the families of passengers involved in 
    the accident.

    (b) Responsibilities of the Board.--The Board shall have primary 
Federal responsibility for facilitating the recovery and identification 
of fatally-injured passengers involved in an accident described in 
subsection (a).
    (c) Responsibilities of Designated Organization.--The organization 
designated for an accident under subsection (a)(2) shall have the 
following responsibilities with respect to the families of passengers 
involved in the accident:
        (1) To provide mental health and counseling services, in 
    coordination with the disaster response team of the air carrier or 
    foreign air carrier involved.
        (2) To take such actions as may be necessary to provide an 
    environment in which the families may grieve in private.
        (3) To meet with the families who have traveled to the location 
    of the accident, to contact the families unable to travel to such 
    location, and to contact all affected families periodically 
    thereafter until such time as the organization, in consultation with 
    the director of family support services designated for the accident 
    under subsection (a)(1), determines that further assistance is no 
    longer needed.
        (4) To communicate with the families as to the roles of the 
    organization, government agencies, and the air carrier or foreign 
    air carrier involved with respect to the accident and the post-
    accident activities.
        (5) To arrange a suitable memorial service, in consultation with 
    the families.

        

            
 
          

    (d) Passenger Lists.--
        (1) Requests for passenger lists.--
            (A) Requests by director of family support services.--It 
        shall be the responsibility of the director of family support 
        services designated for an accident under subsection (a)(1) to 
        request, as soon as practicable, from the air carrier or foreign 
        air carrier involved in the accident a list, which is based on 
        the best available information at the time of the request, of 
        the names of the passengers that were aboard the aircraft 
        involved in the accident.
            (B) Requests by designated organization.--The organization 
        designated for an accident under subsection (a)(2) may request 
        from the air carrier or foreign air carrier involved in the 
        accident a list described in subparagraph (A).
        (2) Use of information.--The director of family support services 
    and the organization may not release to any person information on a 
    list obtained under paragraph (1) but may provide information on the 
    list about a passenger to the family of the passenger to the extent 
    that the director of family support services or the organization 
    considers appropriate.

    (e) Continuing Responsibilities of the Board.--In the course of its 
investigation of an accident described in subsection (a), the Board 
shall, to the maximum extent practicable, ensure that the families of 
passengers involved in the accident--
        (1) are briefed, prior to any public briefing, about the 
    accident, its causes, and any other findings from the investigation; 
    and
        (2) are individually informed of and allowed to attend any 
    public hearings and meetings of the Board about the accident.

    (f) Use of Air Carrier Resources.--To the extent practicable, the 
organization designated for an accident under subsection (a)(2) shall 
coordinate its activities with the air carrier or foreign air carrier 
involved in the accident so that the resources of the carrier can be 
used to the greatest extent possible to carry out the organization's 
responsibilities under this section.
    (g) Prohibited Actions.--
        (1) Actions to impede the board.--No person (including a State 
    or political subdivision) may impede the ability of the Board 
    (including the director of family support services designated for an 
    accident under subsection (a)(1)), or an organization designated for 
    an accident under subsection (a)(2), to carry out its 
    responsibilities under this section or the ability of the families 
    of passengers involved in the accident to have contact with one 
    another.
        (2) Unsolicited communications.--In the event of an accident 
    involving an air carrier providing interstate or foreign air 
    transportation and in the event of an accident involving a foreign 
    air carrier that occurs within the United States, no unsolicited 
    communication concerning a potential action for personal injury or 
    wrongful death may be made by an attorney (including any associate, 
    agent, employee, or other representative of an attorney) or any 
    potential party to the litigation to an individual injured in the 
    accident, or to a relative of an individual involved in the 
    accident, before the 45th day following the date of the accident.
        (3) Prohibition on actions to prevent mental health and 
    counseling services.--No State or political subdivision thereof may 
    prevent the employees, agents, or volunteers of an organization 
    designated for an accident under subsection (a)(2) from providing 
    mental health and counseling services under subsection (c)(1) in the 
    30-day period beginning on the date of the accident. The director of 
    family support services designated for the accident under subsection 
    (a)(1) may extend such period for not to exceed an additional 30 
    days if the director determines that the extension is necessary to 
    meet the needs of the families and if State and local authorities 
    are notified of the determination.

    (h) Definitions.--In this section, the following definitions apply:
        (1) Aircraft accident.--The term ``aircraft accident'' means any 
    aviation disaster regardless of its cause or suspected cause.
        (2) Passenger.--The term ``passenger'' includes--
            (A) an employee of an air carrier or foreign air carrier 
        aboard an aircraft; and
            (B) any other person aboard the aircraft without regard to 
        whether the person paid for the transportation, occupied a seat, 
        or held a reservation for the flight.

    (i) Statutory Construction.--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.
    (j) Relinquishment of Investigative Priority.--
        (1) General rule.--This section (other than subsection (g)) 
    shall not apply to an aircraft accident if the Board has 
    relinquished investigative priority under section 1131(a)(2)(B) and 
    the Federal agency to which the Board relinquished investigative 
    priority is willing and able to provide assistance to the victims 
    and families of the passengers involved in the accident.
        (2) Board assistance.--If this section does not apply to an 
    aircraft accident because the Board has relinquished investigative 
    priority with respect to the accident, the Board shall assist, to 
    the maximum extent possible, the agency to which the Board has 
    relinquished investigative priority in assisting families with 
    respect to the accident.

(Added Pub. L. 104-264, title VII, Sec. 702(a)(1), Oct. 9, 1996, 110 
Stat. 3265; amended Pub. L. 106-181, title IV, Sec. 401(a)(1), (b)-(d), 
Apr. 5, 2000, 114 Stat. 129; Pub. L. 108-168, Sec. 3(a), Dec. 6, 2003, 
117 Stat. 2033.)
                               Amendments

    2003--Subsec. (j). Pub. L. 108-168 added subsec. (j).
    2000--Subsec. (g)(2). Pub. L. 106-181, Sec. 401(a)(1), substituted 
``transportation and in the event of an accident involving a foreign air 
carrier that occurs within the United States,'' for ``transportation,'', 
inserted ``(including any associate, agent, employee, or other 
representative of an attorney)'' after ``attorney'', and substituted 
``45th day'' for ``30th day''.
    Subsec. (g)(3). Pub. L. 106-181, Sec. 401(b), added par. (3).
    Subsec. (h)(2). Pub. L. 106-181, Sec. 401(c), amended heading and 
text generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: ``The term 
`passenger' includes an employee of an air carrier aboard an aircraft.''
    Subsec. (i). Pub. L. 106-181, Sec. 401(d), added subsec. (i).
                    Effective Date of 2000 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 106-181 applicable only to fiscal years 
beginning after Sept. 30, 1999, see section 3 of Pub. L. 106-181, set 
out as a note under section 106 of this title.
                             Effective Date

    Except as otherwise specifically provided, section applicable only 
to fiscal years beginning after Sept. 30, 1996, and not to be construed 
as affecting funds made available for a fiscal year ending before Oct. 
1, 1996, see section 3 of Pub. L. 104-264, set out as an Effective Date 
of 1996 Amendment note under section 106 of this title.