[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5357 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5357
To ensure the effective response by passenger air carrier personnel to
an unruly passenger on an aircraft, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 23, 2021
Ms. Van Duyne introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To ensure the effective response by passenger air carrier personnel to
an unruly passenger on an aircraft, 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 ``Unruly Passenger Restraint Review
Act''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) incidents of unruly passenger conduct pose substantial
operational and safety risks to passenger air carrier (as
defined in section 3(f)) personnel and passengers on board an
aircraft;
(2) the forcible restraint of unruly passengers, while
sometimes necessary, should only occur as a last resort to
ensure the safety of passenger air carrier personnel and
passengers on board an aircraft;
(3) individuals who perpetrate such incidents, especially
those that require forcible restraint, should be held fully
accountable under all applicable Federal and State laws;
(4) particular caution and judgement should be exercised by
passenger air carrier personnel when determining whether a
situation requires the forcible restraint of an unruly minor
passenger or passenger experiencing mental distress;
(5) the Federal Aviation Administration, in coordination
with appropriate Federal Agencies, should provide guidance and
establish procedures for passenger air carrier personnel to
address incidents of unruly passenger conduct, including the
procedures, equipment, and training requirements for passenger
air carrier personnel to--
(A) recognize and respond to an instance of an
unruly passenger behavior in a manner that attempts to
de-escalate a situation;
(B) properly and safely, if necessary, restrain an
unruly passenger;
(C) appropriately differentiate between unruly
conduct from an adult passenger, a minor passenger, and
a passenger experiencing mental distress and respond
accordingly;
(D) facilitate the reporting of such incidents to
appropriate law enforcement agencies;
(E) communicate expectations of conduct to air
carrier passengers; and
(F) communicate the rights of air carrier
passengers with respect to passenger conduct towards
passenger air carrier personnel; and
(6) each passenger air carrier should have the procedures,
equipment, and training in place to comply with the Federal
Aviation Administration's guidance and requirements described
in paragraph (5).
SEC. 3. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REPORT.
(a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall
initiate a study to review current passenger air carrier procedures
related to unruly passengers, including all policies, training, and
equipment requirements put in place by the Federal Government and
provide recommendations to address and mitigate the impacts of such
incidents, including significant operational disruptions, safety risks,
and the need to restrain a disruptive passenger aboard an aircraft.
(b) Considerations.--In carrying out the study required under
subsection (a), the Comptroller General shall, at a minimum--
(1) review current passenger air carrier procedures and
protocols for responding to unruly passenger behavior;
(2) examine current passenger air carrier personnel
training requirements as put in place by the Federal Government
and programs related to de-escalation techniques for passenger
disruptions and provide recommendations for improvement; and
(3) review current passenger air carrier and Federal
Government procedures for restraining an unruly adult
passenger, an unruly minor passenger, and a passenger
experiencing mental distress in a situation in which Federal
law enforcement is unable to intervene.
(c) Report.--Upon completion of the study required under subsection
(a), the Comptroller General shall submit to the Committee of
Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a
report on the findings and recommendations of the study.
(d) Best Practices.--Not later than 1 year after the completion of
the study required under subsection (a), the Administrator of the
Federal Aviation Administration shall--
(1) develop, in consultation with passenger air carriers
and labor unions representing passenger air carrier personnel,
best practices to address and mitigate the impacts of unruly
passenger incidents; and
(2) take the findings and recommendations of the report
submitted under subsection (c) into consideration when
developing such best practices.
(e) Consultation.--In developing best practices under subsection
(d), the Administrator shall consult with the heads of such other
Federal agencies as the Administrator determines appropriate.
(f) Passenger Air Carrier Defined.--In this Act, the term
``passenger air carrier'' means an air carrier that provides scheduled
passenger air transportation.
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