102.11—Arranging for the payment of expenses attendant upon an accident.
(a)
The Department of State has no funds from which expenses attendant upon an accident to United States aircraft can be paid. In emergencies involving scheduled carriers and in the absence of airline representatives, or other authority, the Foreign Service post should request a deposit from the airline (through the Department if desired) with specific authorization to incur whatever financial obligations the airline is willing to assume for the hiring of guards (in case local police protection is considered inadequate), the provision of accommodations, medical care, and onward transportation for survivors and for other expenses resulting from the accident. In accidents involving a private plane or non-scheduled carrier, the Foreign Service post is not in a position to expend any funds without prior authorization from the Department. In such cases, and in extreme cases involving scheduled carriers, when airline and investigation personnel may be delayed in reaching the scene, the Foreign Service representative, as the representative of all segments of the United States Government in the area, should endeavor to protect and promote the interests of the Government, the airline, and the individual citizen by any means available to him that are consistent with these regulations, and should request funds and instructions as required from the Department.
(b)
The local Foreign Service post is not authorized to expend any funds for guarding the wreckage to preserve evidence as to the cause of the accident unless the Civil Aeronautics Board or the Civil Aeronautics Administration authorizes in advance the expenditure of such funds on a reimbursable basis. In the absence of such advance authorization, the Foreign Service post can arrange only for such protection as local authorities are willing to furnish gratuitously.
(c)
Voluntary services and personal services in excess of those authorized by law may be accepted and utilized in the case of an aircraft accident since the law which normally prohibits such acceptance (31 U.S.C. 665) does not apply “in case of sudden emergency involving the loss of human life or the destruction of property”.