The purpose of this part is to ensure that the U.S. government has prompt and adequate information in case of an aviation disaster on covered flight segments.

Air piracy means any seizure of or exercise of control over an aircraft, by force or violence or threat of force or violence, or by any other form of intimidation, and with wrongful intent.

Aviation disaster means:

(1) An occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft that takes place between the time any passengers have boarded the aircraft with the intention of flight and the time all such persons have disembarked or have been removed from the aircraft, and in which any person suffers death or serious injury, and in which the death or injury was caused by a crash, fire, collision, sabotage or accident;

(2) A missing aircraft; or

(3) An act of air piracy.

Contact means a person not on the covered flight or an entity that should be contacted in case of an aviation disaster. The contact need not have any particular relationship to a passenger.

Covered airline means:

(1) certificated air carriers, and

(2) foreign air carriers, except those that hold Department of Transportation authority to conduct operations in foreign air transportation using only small aircraft (i.e., aircraft designed to have a maximum passenger capacity of not more than 60 seats or a maximum payload capacity of not more than 18,000 pounds).

Covered flight segment means a passenger-carrying flight segment operating to or from the United States (i.e., the flight segment where the last point of departure or the first point of arrival is in the United States). A covered flight segment does not include a flight segment in which both the point of departure and point of arrival are in the United States.

Full name means the given name, middle initial or middle name, if any, and family name or surname as provided by the passenger.

Passenger means every person aboard a covered flight segment regardless of whether he or she paid for the transportation, had a reservation, or occupied a seat, except the crew. For the purposes of this part, passenger includes, but is not limited to, a revenue and non-revenue passenger, a person holding a confirmed reservation, a standby or walkup, a person rerouted from another flight or airline, an infant held upon a person's lap and a person occupying a jump seat. Airline personnel who are on board but not working on that particular flight segment would be considered passengers for the purpose of this part.

United States means the States comprising the United States of America, the District of Columbia, and the territories and possessions of the United States, including the territorial sea and the overlying airspace.

U.S. citizen means United States nationals as defined in 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(22).

This part applies to covered flight segments operated by covered airlines. (See § 243.3 of this part)

(a) For covered flight segments, each covered airline shall:

(1) Collect, or cause to be collected, the full name for each passenger who is a U.S. citizen. U.S.-citizen passengers for whom this information is not obtained shall not be boarded;

(2) Solicit, or cause to be solicited, a name and telephone number of a contact from each passenger who is a U.S. citizen; and

(3) Maintain a record of the information collected pursuant to this section.

(b) The covered airline operating the flight segment shall be responsible for ensuring compliance with paragraph (a) of this section.

Covered airlines may use any method or procedure to collect, store and transmit the required information, subject to the following conditions:

(a) Information on individual passengers shall be collected before each passenger boards the aircraft on a covered flight segment.

(b) The information shall be kept until all passengers have disembarked from the covered flight segment.

(c) The contact information collected pursuant to section 243.7(a)(2) of this part shall be kept confidential and released only to the U.S. Department of State, the National Transportation Safety Board (upon NTSB's request), and the U.S. Department of Transportation pursuant to oversight of this part. This paragraph does not preempt other governments or governmental agencies that have an independent, legal right to obtain this information.

(d) The contact information collected pursuant to section 243.7(a)(2) of this part shall only be used by covered airlines for notification of family members or listed contacts following an aviation disaster. The information shall not be used for commercial or marketing purposes.

(a) Each covered airline shall inform the Managing Director of Overseas Citizen Services, Bureau of Consular Affairs, U.S. Department of State immediately upon learning of an aviation disaster involving a covered flight segment operated by that carrier. The Managing Director may be reached 24 hours a day through the Department of State Operations Center at (202) 647-1512.

(b) Each covered airline shall transmit a complete and accurate compilation of the information collected pursuant to § 243.7 of this part to the U.S. Department of State as quickly as possible, but not later than 3 hours, after the carrier learns of an aviation disaster involving a covered flight segment operated by that carrier.

(c) Upon request, a covered airline shall transmit a complete and accurate compilation of the information collected pursuant to § 243.7 of this part to the Director, Transportation Disaster AssistanceNational Transportation Safety Board.

(a) Each covered airline that operates one or more covered flight segments shall file with the U.S. Department of Transportation a brief statement summarizing how it will collect the passenger manifest information required by this part and transmit the information to the Department of State following an aviation disaster. This description shall include a contact at the covered airline, available at any time the covered airline is operating a covered flight segment, who can be consulted concerning information gathered pursuant to this part.

(b) Each covered airline shall file any contact change as well as a description of any significant change in its means of collecting or transmitting manifest information on or before the date the change is made.

(c) All filings under this section should be submitted to OST Docket 98-3305, Dockets Management Facility (M-90) U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590. The statement shall be filed prior to the date a covered airline operates a covered flight segment.

(a) If a covered airline obtains a waiver in the manner described in this section, it will not be required to solicit, collect or transmit information under this part in countries where such solicitation or collection would violate applicable foreign law, but only to the extent it is established by the carrier that such solicitation or collection would violate applicable foreign law.

(b) Covered airlines that claim that such solicitation, collection or transmission would violate applicable foreign law in certain foreign countries shall file a petition requesting a waiver in the Docket Facility, on or before October 1, 1998, or on or before beginning service between that country and United States. Such petition shall include copies of the pertinent foreign law, as well as a certified translation, and shall include opinions of appropriate legal experts setting forth the basis for the conclusion that collection would violate such foreign law. Statements from foreign governments on the application of their laws will also be accepted.

(c) The U.S. Department of Transportation will notify the covered airline of the extent to which it has been satisfactorily established that compliance with all or part of the data collection requirements of this part would constitute a violation of foreign law.

(d) The U.S. Department of Transportation will maintain an up-to-date listing in OST Docket 98-3305 of countries where adherence to all or a portion of this part is not required because of a conflict with applicable foreign law.

The U.S. Department of Transportation may at any time require a covered airline to produce a passenger manifest including emergency contacts and phone numbers for a specified covered flight segment to ascertain the effectiveness of the carrier's system. In addition, it may require from any covered airline further information about collection, storage and transmission procedures at any time. If the Department finds a covered airline's system to be deficient, it will require appropriate modifications, which must be implemented within the period specified by the Department. In addition, a covered airline not in compliance with this part may be subject to enforcement action by the Department.