Contact: Steve Hansen (Communications Director) (202) 225-7749
Email: Steve.Hansen@mail.house.gov
Justin
Harclerode (Communications Assistant) (202) 226-8767
Email:
Justin.Harclerod@mail.house.gov
To: National Desk/Transportation Reporter
March
21, 2002
Legislation To Extend Third-Party Aviation Liability Is Introduced In U.S. House
Washington, D.C. - Legislation that would extend the liability limit on damages caused by a terrorist attack against an airline has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The legislation (H.R. 4016) is an amendment to “The Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act”. H.R. 4016 was introduced by U.S. Rep. John Mica (R-FL), the Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Aviation. The legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), the Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
“This bill recognizes that a terrorist attack similar to the attack of September 11th is really an attack against the United States, so it is only right that the United States, rather than the airlines that happened to be the terrorist tool, bear much of the financial burden for injuries to third parties,” Rep. Mica said.
“As a practical matter, the airlines are not going to be able to cover the losses on a scale similar to those suffered on September 11th so it makes sense to establish a limit on airline liability in advance and then all parties - the airlines, the government, and the insurance companies - can plan accordingly,” Rep. Young said.
H.R. 4016 Background Information
- The bill extends this limit until December 31, 2003. The liability limit that was signed into law after the September 11th terrorist attacks expired on March 20, 2002.
- H.R. 4016 does not limit the amount of damages that a passenger on a plane, or the family of a passenger, could receive. The liability limit applies only to third-party victims, such as people on the ground or in a building hit by an aircraft during an act of terrorism.
- If third-party damages from a future terrorist attack were to exceed $100 million, the federal government would most likely establish a compensation program similar to the compensation fund created for the third-party victims of the September 11th attacks.
- The December 31, 2003 date was chosen because that is the date that the federal government's authority to issue war-risk insurance expires. Congress will then have to consider whether to extend that authority. If H.R. 4016 is signed into law, Congress could also consider what to do about the liability limit at the same time that it is considering what to do about the underlying authority of the FAA to insure airlines against the risk of war and terrorist acts.
- Without a limit on their liability for damages to third parties, the nation’s airlines will incur significantly higher insurance costs at the same time that they are suffering from staggering losses as a result of the September 11th attacks.
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