National Transportation Safety Board

www.ntsb.gov

Background

NTSB is an independent agency responsible for determining the cause of every civilian aviation accident in the United States. The agency also investigates rail accidents that involve at least one fatality or cause major damage; major marine accidents; pipeline accidents and selected highway accidents. The agency investigates about 2,000 air crashes and 100 surface crashes each year.

Once the cause of an accident is determined, the five-member safety board makes safety recommendations to various government agencies or companies. Members of that board are nominated to five-year terms by the president and are confirmed by the Senate.

Location

Regional Story Ideas

If there is a plane crash or other major transportation accident in your region, NTSB will send an investigation team to the site that will spend about a week conducting an on scene investigaiton. To find out if a team is going to a crash, contact NTSB's press office at 202-314-6100.  Someone is on duty until 10 p.m. seven days a week. Investigations take into account witness statements, weather, maintenance, air traffic control and other factors.

Three to six months after leaving the scene, the NTSB may produce a public report on the accident. The board may then hold a public hearing in Washington, D.C.

The board will present a final report on the accident at a public board meeting in Washington, usually around a year after the accident. The report includes the probable cause of the accident and often includes recommendations (although recommendations may come out earlier if the board feels they're critical).

To keep track of hearings for air, rail, highway and other accidents in your state, sign up at NTSB's email notification service: http://www.ntsb.gov/registration/registration.htm.

Another resource for regionals is an aviation accident database which tracks fatal and non-fatal crashes back to 1962.  The database shows you where crashes have happened, what kind of plane and whether the crash was fatal. The database is at: http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/query.asp

Does this agency's information need updating? programs@nationalpress.org