[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3260 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3260

 To provide liability protection for volunteer pilots who fly for the 
                public benefit, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 14, 2016

    Mr. Inhofe (for himself, Mr. King, Mr. Hatch, and Mr. Roberts) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide liability protection for volunteer pilots who fly for the 
                public benefit, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Volunteer Pilot Protection Act of 
2016''.

SEC. 2. LIABILITY PROTECTION FOR VOLUNTEER PILOTS WHO FLY FOR THE 
              PUBLIC BENEFIT.

    (a) Findings and Purposes.--
            (1) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
                    (A) Many volunteer pilots fly for the public 
                benefit for nonprofit organizations and provide 
                valuable services to communities and individuals in 
                need.
                    (B) In each calendar year volunteer pilots and the 
                nonprofit organizations those pilots fly for provide 
                long-distance, no-cost transportation for tens of 
                thousands of people during times of special need. 
                Flights provide patient and medical transport, disaster 
                relief, and humanitarian assistance, and conduct other 
                charitable missions that benefit the public.
                    (C) Such nonprofit organizations have supported the 
                homeland security of the United States by providing 
                volunteer pilot services during and following disasters 
                and during other times of national emergency.
                    (D) Most other kinds of volunteers are protected 
                from liability by the Volunteer Protection Act of 1997 
                (42 U.S.C. 14501 et seq.), but volunteer pilots are 
                not.
            (2) Purposes.--The purposes of this section are, by 
        amending the Volunteer Protection Act of 1997--
                    (A) to extend the protection of that Act to 
                volunteer pilots;
                    (B) to promote the activities of volunteer pilots 
                and the nonprofit organizations those pilots fly for in 
                providing flights for the public benefit; and
                    (C) to sustain and enhance the availability of the 
                services that such pilots and nonprofit organizations 
                provide, including--
                            (i) transportation at no cost to 
                        financially needy medical patients for medical 
                        treatment, evaluation, and diagnosis;
                            (ii) flights for humanitarian and 
                        charitable purposes; and
                            (iii) other flights of compassion.
    (b) Liability Protection for Pilots That Fly for Public Benefit.--
Section 4 of the Volunteer Protection Act of 1997 (42 U.S.C. 14503) is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsections (b) through (f) as 
        subsections (c) through (g), respectively;
            (2) in subsection (a), by striking ``subsections (b) and 
        (d)'' and inserting ``subsections (b), (c), and (e)''; and
            (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the following:
    ``(b) Liability Protection for Pilots That Fly for Public 
Benefit.--Except as provided in subsections (c) and (e), no volunteer 
of a volunteer pilot nonprofit organization that arranges flights for 
public benefit shall be liable for harm caused by an act or omission of 
the volunteer on behalf of the organization if, at the time of the act 
or omission, the volunteer--
            ``(1) was operating an aircraft in furtherance of the 
        purpose of, and acting within the scope of the volunteer's 
        responsibilities on behalf of, the nonprofit organization;
            ``(2) was properly licensed and insured for the operation 
        of the aircraft;
            ``(3) was in compliance with all requirements of the 
        Federal Aviation Administration for recent flight experience; 
        and
            ``(4) did not cause the harm through willful or criminal 
        misconduct, gross negligence, reckless misconduct, or a 
        conscious, flagrant indifference to the rights or safety of the 
        individual harmed by the volunteer.''.
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