1. National Transportation Safety Board- NTSB
AST 425

2. NTSB
What is the NTSB?- It is an independent federal accident investigation agency responsible for the investigation of all transportation related accidents.
The NTSB was formed in 1966 as a part of the DOT act and was placed under the DOT (Department of Transportation)
NTSB was made independent in 1974 by the NTSB Act.

3. NTSB The NTSB mission is:
To determine the “probable cause” of transportation accidents
To formulate safety recommendations designed to improve transportation safety

4. NTSB
Scope:
The NTSB is required to determine the probable cause of the following types of accidents:
Civil Aviation Accidents
Major Highway Accidents
Passenger train accidents involving fatalities
Major Marine Accidents
Pipeline Accedents

5. NTSB Aviation Accidents Investigated:
Responsible for all aviation accidents but typically are only directly involved in those involving fatalities- the rest are “delegated” by a letter of agreement (LOA) to the FAA- Based on workload and staffing and varies from year to year.
FAA investigates all ag., homebuilt/experimental accidents

6. NTSB The NTSB investigates thousands of accidents annually
All air carrier accidents
All in-flight collisions
All fatal general aviation accidents
All air-taxi accidents
All accidents involving large aircraft (greater than 12,500 lbs.)

7. NTSB- Other Responsibilities
The 1974 NTSB Act requires the NTSB to:
-Conduct special studies on safety problems
-Mid-Air collisions
-Runway Incursions
-In-fight icing- regional airliners- AE 4184
Since NTSB’s creation accidents have gone down considerably (Chapter 2)

8. NTSB Other Responsibilities- Ctn.
Evaluate the effectiveness of government agencies involved with transportation including:
FAA- over 90 % of the recommendations made to the FAA by the NTSB are acted upon favorably- FAA is required by law to respond.
NHTSA

9. NTSB Other Responsibilities Ctn.
Evaluate the safeguards used in the transportation of hazardous materials
Review appeals from:
Airman and merchant seamen whose certificates have been suspended or revoked
Make an annual report to congress on the State of Transportation Safety

10. NTSB structure
Made up of 5 members appointed by the president for a 5 year term- confirmed by the senate
The chairman and vice chairman are appointed to serve for typically two years (although the last one, Jim Hall served for 5-6 years)
340 Total Employees Nationwide- only 75 dedicated to the “air mode”

11. NTSB structure ctn.
Headquartered in Washington DC. With 5 regional and 4 field offices in:
Chicago, Anchorage, Atlanta, Ft. Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Denver, and Seattle
-These field offices investigate about 99% of the accidents under the NTSB’s jurisdiction

12. NTSB Structure
The GO-Team in Wash. DC. Investigates an average of accidents per year.
Headquartered in DC
On 24 hour alert- must go anywhere in the world on 2 hours notice- fly in the NTSB G-IV
8-12 member team- rotating duty- headed by one of the 5 board members
Reserved for major carrier accidents

13. NTSB- GO TEAM
Consists of various specialists- metallurgy, avionics, ATC, maintenance, flight, etc.
Usually on site for one or two weeks or less
“Jump Start” an investigation
Send evidence for laboratory analysis- back in DC. Or where specialized services are offered- ie. Aeromedical- OK. City OK.

14. NTSB Laboratory analysis
Analyze “Black Boxes”- Flight Date Recorders (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorders (CVR)
Analyzing wreckage for:
Inadequate design
Excessive loading
Fatigue/Corrision
Etc.

15. NTSB Recommendation
The Recommendation- End product of the investigation:
Recs. Are issued as soon as they are discovered- don’t await the final report which can take months
Identifies person/s or agencies (FAA, manufacturers, etc.) that need to take action and describes the action which needs to be taken.

16. Chronology Ctn. States the safety need to be satisfied
DOT (FAA) must respond within 90 days

17. Chronology Ctn. Public Hearing held to: Collect more information
Air at a public forum the issues involved in an accident

18. Chronology Ctn.
Final Report- publication which gives accident details as well as a “probable cause” for the accident. Results have been used to make systemic improvements such as:
Pilot training
Aircraft Maintenance
ATC procedures
Survival Equipment Requirements

19. Major Accident Chronology
Go Team on site
Site Analysis
Public Hearing
Laboratory Analysis
Safety Recommendations
Final Report
Publication Made Public

20. NTSB Ctn. NTSB investigates approx. 2400 aviation accidents per year.
Each regional office investigates approximately 400 per year- 60 delegated to FAA- 12 – 13 employees each- huge workload!
Go Team investigates approx per year

21. The End!