MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Survivors used to call it “the second assault.”

That was their name for the way they were treated by airlines and the government after air crashes years ago, when little care was taken to return personal possessions of crash victims or, in some cases, even their remains. Families tried in vain to reach airlines to find out whether their loved one was on board the plane, and whether they lived or died.

But survivors and those who help them say treatment has gotten much better, in part because of a 1996 law that followed the crash of TWA flight 800, which killed all 230 people on board.

Now, airlines must have a process in place for notifying families, for returning personal items like luggage and jewelry. And the National Transportation Safety Board has an office called “Transportation Disaster Assistance,” with people trained to work with families.

The plans have to incorporate the worst disasters, with dozens of fatalities, but they also come into play in nonfatal accidents like the Continental Airlines Inc. 737 that veered off a Denver runway over the weekend, injuring 38 people.

The airline’s “Family Assistance Plan” filed with the federal government promises to have adequate staff to handle phone calls from family members of crash victims. It says that as names on the manifest are verified, trained workers will notify the family – in person, whenever possible.

“All of that didn’t exist before. There have been some huge improvements,” said Tricia Andria-Coffman, whose husband David Coffman was one of eight people who died when a Circuit City jet crashed in Colorado in 2005. Andria-Coffman, who said Circuit City’s response to the crash was excellent, is on the board of a survivor’s group called the National Air Disaster Alliance.

American Airlines paid $25,000 right away to the families of the 13 people killed in a commuter plane crash near Kirksville, Mo., in 2004, said Tom Ellis, a family liaison at Nolan Law Group in Chicago, which often sues on behalf of crash victims. The plane was under contract with American’s commuter service.

“Right off the bat the airline came out and gave the families $25,000 up front to take care of their immediate needs,” Ellis said, “and if they needed additional stuff on an as-needed basis they would help them.”

He said such payments are typically an advance on any future settlement, but they don’t preclude victims from suing the airline.

The Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act of 1996 makes attorneys for airline insurance companies, and lawyers seeking to represent victims, wait 45 days before contacting them after a crash.

Airline responses are all over the map, with some offering money right away and some waiting until the victim makes a claim, Ellis said.

After 83 people died when a Singapore Airlines 747 crashed on take-off in Taipei, the airline quickly offered $400,000 to the families of the dead, and $20,000 to each survivor, Ellis said.

Was that a reasonable settlement? Ellis said it depends.

“If you have a single adult who dies and leaves elderly parents, they may be more apt to take an offer of $400,000 than would be the wife of a middle management person who has six children to feed and educate,” he said.

Continental’s plan also promises to work with families about returning remains and personal possessions. Family members of the victims of TWA flight 800 reported waiting months for remains to be identified, and getting no answer at a phone number set up by the airline.

One change since then is the National Transportation Safety Board’s Office of Transportation Disaster Assistance.

At the time of the Flight 800 crash, the NTSB had investigators, but no one specifically trained to work with families, said Bob Francis, who was vice chairman of the NTSB at the time. He went to the scene himself.

“We were not trained and prepared for this, going in and briefing the families, that is not easy stuff,” he said. “Particularly when it was day after day. I mean, it went on for months. They’ve got it a lot more organized now.”