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S 3229 110th Congress Senate

Air Medical Service Safety Improvement Act of 2008

Official title: A bill to increase the safety of the crew and passengers in air ambulances.

Introduced: November 17, 2008 Introduced by: Cantwell, Maria Democratic · Washington See on congress.gov
Transportation and Public Works Administrative procedureAircraft pilotsAmbulancesAviation safety
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Department of TransportationEmergency ManagementEmergency medicineGovernment Operations and PoliticsHealthHelicoptersLawNavigational aids (Aeronautics)
This bill died when the 110th Congress ended
It never became law before the 110th Congress (2007–2008) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 3 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Jul 8, 2008
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Jul 8, 2008
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S6443)
Jul 8, 2008
Introduced in Senate
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 Latest action July 8, 2008

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Air Medical Service Safety Improvement Act of 2008 - Requires all pilots of a helicopter or fixed-wing aircraft providing emergency medical services, if there is a medical crew on board, without regard to whether there are patients on board, to comply with federal safety operating requirements governing commuter and on demand operations as well as persons on board aircraft. Prescribes other requirements for such aircraft when operating under instrument flight rules or carrying out training.

Requires the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to initiate a rulemaking to: (1) create a standardized checklist of risk evaluation factors which shall be used by helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft emergency medical service operators to determine whether a mission should be accepted; (2) require such operators to implement and comply with performance based flight dispatch and flight-following procedures; and (3) develop a method to assess and ensure that such operators comply with the latter requirements.

Requires helicopter or fixed-wing aircraft used for emergency medical service operations to have on board a terrain awareness and warning system device that meets FAA guidelines.

Requires the Administrator to issue: (1) a report on the availability, survivability, and costs of devices that record voice communications and flight data information on existing and new helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft used for emergency medical service operations; and (2) regulations to require such devices on board such aircraft.

 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
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APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 3229: Air Medical Service Safety Improvement Act of 2008. 110th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/110-S-3229/
MLA
"S. 3229: Air Medical Service Safety Improvement Act of 2008." 110th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/110-S-3229/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 3229, 110th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/110-S-3229/.
Markdown link
[S. 3229: Air Medical Service Safety Improvement Act of 2008](https://openamerica.io/bill/110-S-3229/)
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