AIRLINE FAMILY ASSISTANCE PLAN

Transcription

1 AIRLINE FAMILY ASSISTANCE PLAN 29 September 2000

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page List of Corresponding Items i 1. Overview Pre-Response Planning Committing Sufficient Resources Lauda Air s Special Assistance Team Training Toll-free telephone number Customer Manifest, Ticket Reconciliation and Notification Customer Manifest Ticket Reconciliation Notifying Customers Families 4. Customer Identification 5. Family Access to the Accident Site 4 6. Human Remains and Personal Effects Personal Effects Monuments Relationship with Designated Independent Organization 5 Compensation of Designated Organization 5 Filing Airline Plan with DOT and NTSB 6 Consultation on Carrier Response not Covered by Plan 6 Lauda Air Emergency Contact Number Addendum 1

3 CorresDondine Items Family Assistance Plan families of passengers -i-

4 1. Overview Lauda Air s Family Assistance Plan describes the methods by which Lauda Air, in cooperation with the National Transportation Safety Board, other governmental entities, the designated independent organization and third parties, will provide family assistance after an aviation accident involving a fight operated by Lauda Air has occurred within the United States. The purpose of this plan is to ensure that Lauda Air efforts are made in the best interests of survivors and families and to respect the cultural and religious backgrounds of survivors and families. Lauda Air provides family assistance without regard to an individual s status as a revenue customer, non-revenue customer, or crewmember. As used in this plan, the terms customer and passenger both include employees of Lauda Air aboard an aircraft and any other persons aboard a Lauda Air aircraft without regard to whether the person paid for the transportation, occupied a seat, or held a reservation for the flight. The Lauda Air plan fulfills the provisions of the Foreign Air Carrier Family Support Act of 1997, as amended by the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21 st Century and codified at 49 U.S.C Certain specialized services that are required following an accident may be accomplished on behalf of Lauda Air by vendors having expertise in those areas. 2. Pre-Response Planning 2.1. Committing Sufficient Resources Lauda Air will install comprehensive emergency response and family assistance programs that utilize a broad spectrum of human and technological resources in the event of an accident. During such crises, specially trained employees throughout the organization will work around the clock on issues including family assistance, accident investigation, media relations, and liaisons with government agencies and support organizations. They are directed via a dedicated command center. Lauda Air will establish a cooperative working relationship with the external organizations involved in a crisis and has designed its emergency response structure specifically to allow separate management of the crisis while continuing the safe operation of the airline Lauda Air s Special Assistance Team A special assistance team of organized and trained Lauda Air staff members will be established to enhance communication between Lauda Air and the families affected by an accident and to respond to needs the families may have. These staff members come from virtually all divisions of the corporation. Every effort is being made to have volunteers in all geographical areas served by Lauda Air around the world organized in a manner that will allow for immediate mobilization. There will also be cooperation with partner airlines of Lauda Air. -l-

5 2.3. Training Lauda Air will provide adequate training to its employees and agents to meet the needs of survivors and family members following an accident. Additionally, customer service training will be provided to personnel in public-contact positions throughout the Lauda Air system network since the customers of Lauda Air flights to and from the United States include citizens of nations other than the United States. Families of passengers may call our reservation offices worldwide or seek assistance at airports that are neither the origin nor the destination of the flight involved in an accident. As with any training program, enhancements are continually made to include lessons learned from industry partners and mental health professionals. Periodic simulations of Lauda Air s comprehensive emergency response plan are made in cooperation with regular airport drills. The high number of partner airlines gives Lauda Air the opportunity to increase our experience in emergency planning, crisis management and training. In addition, Lauda Air and its partners routinely coordinate with local authorities that have emergency responsibilities Toll-free telephone number On request and on behalf of Lauda Air a NTSB-designated, independent non-profit organization will establish a toll-free telephone number within 1 hour of Lauda Air s Operations Control Center receiving information indicating that an aircraft operated by Lauda Air has been involved in an event and that there are serious injuries and/or fatalities. At the same time Lauda Air will publish the telephone number of their own Passenger Inquiry Center in Milan, Malpensa Airport, Italy, to cover all needs of our European customers. The toll free number will be provided to the media as soon as it is established. Only information authorized for release will be provided. 3. Customer Manifest, Ticket Reconciliation and Notification 3.1. Customer Manifest On any flight segment where the last point of departure or the first point of arrival is in the U.S., Lauda Air will collect the full name, as provided by the passenger, for every passenger who is a U.S. citizen before the passenger boards the flight. Lauda Air will also solicit from the passenger the name and telephone number of the passenger s next-of-kin, who is a person not on the flight or an entity that should be contacted in case of aviation disaster. Immediately after an accident, Lauda Air will begin the process of determining which customers actually boarded the flight. This will include identifying customers with reservations, standby, rerouted, and non-revenue customers. Unfortunately, this process can be delayed by persons traveling under different names and/or changing seats. Accordingly, internal policy and Italian Law prohibits the unauthorized release of this confidential, sensitive manifest information. -2-

6 In the case of a Lauda Air flight accident within the United States, Lauda Air will upon the request of the NTSB and/or the designated organization, send a list of names of customers aboard the aircraft to the NTSB director of family support services designated for the accident. This list will be based on the airline s best available information at the time of request. All customer manifests shall be considered and marked as preliminary and unconfirmed. However, the customer manifest will be updated periodically. If foreign nationals are verified to be on board, Lauda Air will transmit a list of their names to the United States Department of State Ticket Reconciliation Reconciling a preliminary customer list is accomplished by comparing ticket coupons and other verifying data at the departure airport to the list of those holding computerized reservations (Passenger Name Records) for the flight. Information in the PNRs can also begin the process of determining the customers next-of-kin and establishing contact. Once this initial reconciliation is complete, the notification process can proceed while the list continues to be verified Notifying Customers Families Specially trained personnel from the Lauda Air s Family Assistance Team (FAT) in Milan, Malpensa Airport, Italy, will notify the family of each customer as soon as it appears that the individual was on board. This will enable a quick flow of information on both ends, the place of departure and the place of arrival. We will not wait for all the names of customers to be verified. This activity will continue 24 hours per day. However, identifying and contacting some customers next-of-kin may be delayed, depending on the amount and accuracy of information available. Callers who have inquired about a name appearing on the list will be contacted by FAT until the next of kin has been notified. Lauda Air will not release a customer s name publicly until after the next-of-kin has been notified. If the next-of-kin requests that the customer s name not be made public, Lauda Air will convey that information to the NTSB in an effort to do all possible to honor the request. 4. Customer Identification The medical examiner or coroner is responsible for the positive identification of fatalities and will provide official notification of death to the family. In cases where local capacity is exceeded, this task may be supplemented by members of the disaster mortuary team. For injured customers, the hospital is responsible for periodic status updates and either the hospital or Lauda Air will continue to advise the families. -3-

7 5. Familv Access to the Accident Site The Family Assistance Team (FAT) will arrange for the family of a customer in traveling to the location of the accident if they so desire. Once at the location, specific Lauda Air personnel assisted by members of our partner airlines or a third party will be assigned and dedicated to the families to provide for their physical care by e.g. coordinating accommodations, ground transportation, communication, the purchase of personal incidentals, visiting survivors in the hospitals, etc. Lauda Air will make provisions for a joint family support operations center to include space, communications, and logistical support for federal and the designated organization s staff. Lauda Air will endeavor to secure a suitable facility to protect families from intrusions by the media and by unwelcome solicitors. The National Transportation Safety Board has accident-site jurisdiction. Within site security limitations that these authorities establish, Lauda Air will respond to family requests for visits to the accident scene. Access to the site may be limited by terrain, biohazard and/or hazardous materials concerns, security measures, or other unforeseen conditions. Lauda Air representatives will continue to assist family members as they depart the accident location and will maintain contact with the family until it is no longer necessary. 6. Human Remains and Personal Effects The disposition of identifiable and unidentifiable human remains is within the responsibility of a medical examiner or coroner. Disaster mortuary teams may be activated by the NTSB to assist with this process. Lauda Air will comply with decisions made by the responsible authorities and help to ensure that the families are advised as to the plans for disposition. We will honor the next-of-kin s wishes as to arrangements for remains identified as those of the customer. 6.1 Personal Effects Authorities should return identifiable personal effects to the customer s family rather than having the airline become custodian of them and local authorities should determine disposition of unidentifiable personal effects. -4-

8 If personal effects come into the airline s control Lauda Air or its designee will consult with each family about the disposition of the items. Unless requested otherwise, Lauda Air or its designee will describe to the next-of-kin the condition of each such possession and follow the direction of the next-of-kin as to the return or other disposition of such items regardless of their condition. Lauda Air will designate a specialized subcontractor who will commit sufficient resources with experience to provide services including among others recovery, cleaning, and restoration of personal effects, liaison with relatives, eventual repatriation and final disposition of remains. After returning all possessions that can be associated with specific customers, Lauda Air will retain any unclaimed possessions that are within its control for no less than 18 months Monuments If the families express a desire for a monument at the accident site, Lauda Air will consult each of them about its construction. All comments and concerns from families (along with the statutory and/or regulatory requirements or considerations of the place of construction) will be given careful consideration. Each family will be given a choice of including or not including the customer s name if an inscription of the names is planned in the agreed design. If it was impossible to obtain a unanimous agreement from the families, Lauda Air may implement a plan agreeable to the majority of the families. The closest family members will be given an opportunity to visit the monument when construction is complete. 7. Relationship with Designated Independent Organization Lauda Air will establish a liaison with the independent, non-profit organization that the NTSB designates under the Foreign Air Carrier Family Support Act of 1997 in order to work together on an ongoing basis. The goals will be to ensure that mental health and counseling services to families, as well as any other appropriate services, are provided following an accident Compensation of Designated Organization A procedure will be developed to pay reasonable compensation to the NTSB-designated independent, non-profit organization under the Foreign Air Carrier Family Support Act of 1997 for services provided by the organization. Lauda Air will request a plan of tasks and anticipated expenses prior to the designated organization s full deployment, consultation about costs as they are incurred, and an itemized list of services rendered and expenses to accompany the organization s invoice. -5-

9 8. Filing Airline Plan with DOT and NTSB Lauda Air has filed this Plan as required by the Foreign Air Carrier Family Support Act of In addition, Lauda Air has submitted to the National Transportation Safety Board contact telephone numbers at its operational center that can be used by the NTSB 24 hours per day, seven days per week. 9. Consultation on Carrier Response not Covered by Plan In the event Lauda Air volunteers assistance to United States citizens within the United States with respect to an aircraft accident outside the United States involving a major loss of life, Lauda Air will consult with the NTSB and the Department of State on the provision of the assistance. -6-