1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Volunteer Pilot Protection Act of 2017 . 2. Findings and purposes (a) Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Many volunteer pilots fly for the public benefit for nonprofit organizations and provide valuable services to communities and individuals in need. (2) In each calendar year volunteer pilots and the nonprofit organizations those pilots fly for provide long-distance, no-cost transportation for tens of thousands of people during times of special need. Flights provide patient and medical transport, disaster relief, and humanitarian assistance, and conduct other charitable missions that benefit the public. (3) Such nonprofit organizations have supported the homeland security of the United States by providing volunteer pilot services during and following disasters and during other times of national emergency. (4) Most other kinds of volunteers are protected from liability by the Volunteer Protection Act of 1997 ( 42 U.S.C. 14501 et seq.), but volunteer pilots are not. (b) Purposes The purposes of this Act are to amend the Volunteer Protection Act of 1997— (1) to extend the protection of that Act to volunteer pilots; (2) to promote the activities of volunteer pilots and the nonprofit organizations those pilots fly for in providing flights for the public benefit; and (3) to sustain and enhance the availability of the services that such pilots and nonprofit organizations provide, including— (A) transportation at no cost to financially needy medical patients for medical treatment, evaluation, and diagnosis; (B) flights for humanitarian and charitable purposes; and (C) other flights of compassion. 3. Liability protection for volunteer pilots who fly for the public benefit Section 4 of the Volunteer Protection Act of 1997 ( 42 U.S.C. 14503 ) is amended— (1) by redesignating subsections (b) through (f) as subsections (c) through (g), respectively; (2) in subsection (a), by striking subsections (b) and (d) and inserting subsections (b), (c), and (e)