Bill Text: NY A00540 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires helicopters be equipped with flight recorders, cockpit voice recorders and terrain awareness and warning systems.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-08 - referred to transportation [A00540 Detail]

Download: New_York-2025-A00540-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                           540

                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                       (Prefiled)

                                     January 8, 2025
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Transportation

        AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to requiring heli-
          copters be equipped with flight recorders, cockpit voice recorders and
          terrain awareness and warning systems

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Section 243 of the general  business  law,  as  amended  by
     2  chapter 843 of the laws of 1980, is amended to read as follows:
     3    §  243.  Aircraft;  construction,  design  and  airworthiness; federal
     4  registration. 1. The public safety  requiring,  and  the  advantages  of
     5  uniform  regulation making it desirable, in the interest of aeronautical
     6  progress, that aircraft to be avigated within this state should conform,
     7  with respect to design, construction  and  airworthiness,  to  standards
     8  prescribed  by the United States government with respect to avigation of
     9  aircraft subject to its jurisdiction,  it  shall  be  unlawful  for  any
    10  person  to  avigate  an aircraft within this state unless it is licensed
    11  and registered by the department of transportation of the United  States
    12  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  the lawful rules and regulations of the
    13  United States government then in force. The license  for  such  aircraft
    14  must  be  carried  and  conspicuously  posted  in  the aircraft while in
    15  flight. Such license also shall be presented for inspection, on  demand,
    16  to  any  peace officer, acting pursuant to his special duties, or police
    17  officer, or to any official, manager or person in charge of  an  airport
    18  or landing place where the aircraft may be.
    19    2. It shall be unlawful for any person to avigate any helicopter with-
    20  in this state unless such helicopter is equipped with:
    21    a. a flight data recorder;
    22    b. a cockpit voice recorder; and
    23    c. a terrain awareness and warning system.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02032-01-5
        A. 540                              2

     1    3.  The  provisions  of  this section shall not apply to aircraft used
     2  exclusively in the governmental service of the United  States,  or  used
     3  exclusively  in  the  service of the national guard or of one or more of
     4  the civil departments of this state.
     5    § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
     6  it shall have become a law.