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Committee narrows private‑airstrip liability language and advances bill after industry input
Summary
Lawmakers adopted amendments to House Bill 718 to remove an overly broad subsection and to clarify when private airstrip owners are liable; the amended bill was reported favorably to the Senate.
House Bill 718, introduced to provide liability protections for owners of private recreational airstrips, was amended and reported favorably by the Senate Judiciary A Committee on May 12.
The bill’s author said Louisiana has more than 400 private registered airstrips and proposed a statute modeled on an Arkansas law to protect landowners who allow recreational landings. Vice Chair Luno and other senators warned that subsection E as originally drafted could be too broad, potentially allowing large landowners to designate land as an "airport" and thereby shield unrelated activities on adjacent land from liability.
Staff presented amendment set 3615, which inserts clarifying definitions (owner, person, recreational purpose) and deletes the problematic subsection E. The committee adopted the amendment set without objection. After an industry witness (Luke Williamson of LAJ) echoed concerns about potential expansion of exempted activity, he told senators his organization would support the bill with the adopted tightening.
The committee reported the bill with amendments to the Senate.
