United States S 36: Kobe Bryant & Gianna Bryant Helicopter Safety Act

Bill Text

II
117TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION S. 36
To require certain helicopters to be equipped with safety technologies, and
for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
JANUARY 25, 2021
Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and Mr.
MARKEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
A BILL
To require certain helicopters to be equipped with safety
technologies, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Kobe Bryant & Gianna 4
Bryant Helicopter Safety Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6
Congress finds the following: 7
(1) The January 26, 2020, helicopter crash 8
near Calabasas, California, in which 9 individuals 9
lost their lives, was a tragic event. 10
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(2) Officials from the National Transportation 1
Safety Board (NTSB) have noted that the helicopter 2
involved in the fatal January crash was not equipped 3
with a Flight Data Recorder (FDR), a Cockpit 4
Voice Recorder (CVR), or a Terrain Awareness and 5
Warning System (TAWS). 6
(3) The NTSB has investigated numerous trag-7
ic helicopter accidents, including the crash of a heli-8
copter in the Gulf of Mexico in 2004, in which 10 9
individuals lost their lives, and a crash in Missouri 10
in 2011, in which 4 individuals lost their lives. 11
(4) The NTSB has provided recommendations 12
to the FAA regarding equipping helicopters with 13
crash-resistant Flight Data Recorders, Cockpit Voice 14
Recorders, and Terrain Awareness and Warning 15
Systems. 16
(5) The FAA has not acted on several NTSB 17
recommendations for increased helicopter safety 18
technologies that could potentially avert future trag-19
edies. 20
SEC. 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF NTSB RECOMMENDATIONS. 21
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsections (b) and (c), 22
not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this 23
Act, the Administrator shall issue such regulations as are 24
necessary to implement the following NTSB recommenda-25
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tions for crash-resistant systems, but only with respect to 1
existing and new U.S.-registered turbine-powered rotor-2
craft certificated for 6 or more passenger seats: 3
(1) Safety Recommendation A–06–017, issued 4
on March 7, 2006 (relating to requiring all rotor-5
craft operating under parts 91 and 135 of title 14, 6
Code of Federal Regulations, with a transport-cat-7
egory certification to be equipped with a cockpit 8
voice recorder (CVR) and a flight data recorder 9
(FDR) or an onboard cockpit image recorder with 10
the capability of recording cockpit audio, crew com-11
munications, and aircraft parametric data). 12
(2) Safety Recommendation A–06–018, issued 13
on March 7, 2006 (relating to not permitting exemp-14
tions or exceptions to the flight recorder regulations 15
that allow transport-category rotorcraft to operate 16
without flight recorders, and withdrawing exemp-17
tions and exceptions that allow transport-category 18
rotorcraft to operate without flight recorders). 19
(3) Safety Recommendation A–06–019 issued 20
on March 24, 2006 (relating to requiring all existing 21
and new U.S.-registered turbine-powered rotorcraft 22
certificated for 6 or more passenger seats to be 23
equipped with a terrain awareness and warning sys-24
tem). 25
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(b) TIMING FOR EQUIPMENT COMPLIANCE.—The 1
regulations required to be issued under subsection (a) 2
shall require all U.S.-registered turbine-powered rotorcraft 3
certificated for 6 or more passenger seats to be equipped 4
with a Flight Data Recorder, a Cockpit Voice Recorder, 5
and a Terrain Awareness and Warning System that each 6
meet the respective requirements applicable under such 7
regulations, not later than— 8
(1) 1 year after the date on which the applica-9
ble regulation is issued; or 10
(2) 2 years after the date on which the applica-11
ble regulation is issued, if the Administrator deter-12
mines appropriate. 13
(c) EXEMPTIONS.— 14
(1) IN GENERAL.—In issuing the regulations 15
required under subsection (a), the Administrator 16
may exempt any civilian helicopter that the Adminis-17
trator determines appropriate from 1 or more of the 18
equipment requirements of such regulations. 19
(2) REQUIREMENTS.—If the Administrator 20
issues a final regulation that contains an exemption 21
described in paragraph (1), the Administrator shall 22
submit to the Committee on Transportation and In-23
frastructure of the House of Representati