National Transportation Safety Board

Type: Government Agency
On the web: http://www.ntsb.gov

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is the primary federal agency tasked with investigating every civil aviation accident in the US as well as other significant transportation accidents. Opened in 1967, the NTSB investigates civil aviation accidents, some public-use aircraft accidents, selected highway accidents, railroad accidents resulting in a fatality or major property damage, major marine accidents, pipeline accidents involving a fatality or major property damage, hazardous material releases, and recurring transportation accidents. The agency also issues safety recommendations upon completing accident investigations and has become one of the world's premier accident investigation agencies.

Officers:
CFO: US Federal

When the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) was established in 1967, it was considered an independent federal agency. However, NTSB's administrative support and funding were funneled through the Department of Transportation (DOT). Over time, the need for a totally separate, nonreliant agency was recognized, and the 1975 Independent Safety Board Act severed all DOT ties.

Congress charges NTSB with investigating every U.S. civil aviation accident, as well as significant railroad, highway, marine, and pipeline accidents. NTSB, based on investigation findings, then issues safety recommendations in an effort to prevent future accidents.

NTSB's different from other agencies in that it has no official enforcement or regulatory powers, it is a totally independent agency, and its specially trained staff conduct investigations and determine probable cause. Its investigations are broad, looking more for the big picture, rather than attempting to focus on a specific detail or category.

With less than 400 employees, NTSB is a small agency. However, it plays a large role in maintaining and/or restoring public confidence in the safety of the nation's transportation systems. NTSB has investigated thousands of surface transportation accidents and more than 100,000 aviation accidents since it began operation in 1967.

The most important outcomes of NTSB investigations are the safety recommendations the agency issues based on investigation findings. NTSB has proven itself to be thorough and impartial and has been able to achieve an admirable (more than 80 percent) acceptance rate of recommendations made to various individuals and organizations in positions to effect change.

NTSB also uses accident investigation findings to identify trends or issues that may otherwise be overlooked. Through proactive outreach efforts (e.g., conferences, symposia, and state advocacy), NTSB makes the public aware of potential safety problem areas, such as child safety seat concerns or accidents related to human fatigue factors.

NTSB also enjoys an international leadership role, specifically in regard to accidents involving cruise ships or foreign-flag vessels in U.S. waters or U.S. planes or U.S.-made aircraft overseas.

NTSB has thus contributed significantly to increasing levels of safety for individuals worldwide.

To focus attention on NTSB recommendations with the most potential to save lives, NTSB has created its "Most Wanted List" of improvements in transportation safety, which includes areas where rapid improvement is considered essential. This list includes requiring railroads to install collision avoidance systems, having natural gas distribution companies install excess flow valves in high-pressure residential systems, having voyage and flight data recorders with increased parameters installed on ships and airplanes respectively, and requiring fire detection and suppression equipment in airplane cargo compartments.

NTSB's safety recommendations have resulted in many safety improvements. For instance, recommendations stemming from the Valu Jet Flight 92 accident in Florida resulted in a Department of Transportation's Research and Special Programs Administration Agency (RSPA) rule prohibiting passenger-carrying aircraft from transporting oxygen generators as cargo. In the wake of natural gas pipeline accidents in Catskill, New York, and Allentown, Pennsylvania, cast-iron pipe monitoring and replacement programs were implemented by two major gas-distribution companies. The Federal Aviation Association (FAA) has acted to have Boeing 737 rudder systems modified based on NTSB recommendations stemming from the USAir Flight 427 incident in Pittsburgh. In response to an NTSB-issued emergency recommendation based on its 1996 Child Passenger Protection Study, the automobile industry attached labels and sent warning letters to owners about the dangers posed to children by airbags. Information on other actions resulting from NTSB recommendations is available from NTSB at 490 L'Enfant Plaza SW, Washington, D.C. 20594; (202) 314-6000; or http://www.ntsb.gov/.

Bibliography

Hall, Jim. Testimony of Jim Hall, Chairman NTSB, before the Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation and Related Agencies, House of Representatives, Regarding Fiscal Year 1998 Budget Request. March 11, 1997. Archived at: http://www.ntsb.gov/speeches/jh970311.html.

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Website: http://www.ntab.gov/. 1999.

NTSB. "About the NTSB: History and Mission." Archived at: http://www.ntsb.gov/Abt–NTSB/history.htm. 1999.

NTSB. Strategic Plan. Archived at: http://www.ntsb.gov/Abt–NTSB/strategic/plan.htm. 1999.

[Article by: MARY JEAN LUSH; VAL HINTON]

The United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent national agency responsible for investigating transportation accidents within the United States. The agency has custody of all debris and wreckage from accidents that it investigates, and thorough investigations sometimes take years to complete. The primary focus of NTSB operations is the investigation of civil aviation accidents, however the agency is also required to report on railroad, pipeline, and significant marine and highway accidents. For the NTSB to be involved in an accident investigation, the accident must involve a national transportation infrastructure, a public vessel, or hazardous materials.

The NTSB was established on April 1, 1967. In its early days, the agency worked closely with the Department of Transportation. Concerned with the NTSB's ties to the nation's transportation regulatory agency and the transportation industry, Congress sought to make the NTSB an independent, and impartial, entity. In 1975, the agency became independent, receiving funding in its own right through the Independent Safety Board Act.

The NTSB is managed by a five-person board. Members are appointed by the President to serve five-year terms. The board directs agency field investigators, and certifies final accident reports.

In addition to accident investigation, the NTSB maintains the government database of civil aviation accidents. The database permits NTSB researchers to search for patterns in accident occurrence, as well as publish safety statistics for carriers and airports. The NTSB conducts regular studies of transportation safety procedures, making improvement suggestions to transportation officials and Congress when necessary. Since its inception in 1967, the NTSB has issued nearly 12,000 recommendations. Though the NTSB does not have the power to act as a regulatory authority, most of its recommendations have been adopted by the national transportation industry.

The NTSB is also an instrument of national transportation law. The board sometimes hears the appeals of pilots, mechanics, and mariners who have been stripped of professional privileges, certificates, or incurred disciplinary fines. For advice on these cases, the NTSB employs legal council. Council is also provided to any witnesses or parties involved in an accident who are questioned by NTSB investigators.

Although the investigative jurisdiction of the NTSB does not extend beyond national borders, the agency provides investigators for international accidents involving United States registered aircraft or maritime vessels. United States NTSB investigators, or foreign NTSB Accredited Representatives, have occasionally been welcomed by foreign governments that do not have their own investigative services to report on accidents.

After the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, the NTSB began widespread investigations of the airlines' safety and screening procedures. The newly created Transportation Safety Administration temporarily assumed many of the NTSB safety recommendation duties. The NTSB continues to investigate the actual September 11, 2001, airline crashes associated with the terrorist attacks.

Further Reading

Electronic

United States National Transportation Safety Board. <http://www.ntsb.gov> (30 April 2003).

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is a federal investigatory board whose mandate is to ensure safe public transportation. Established in 1966 as part of the Department of Transportation, the NTSB investigates accidents, conducts studies, and makes recommendations to federal agencies and the transportation industry. It is chiefly known for its highly visible role in civil aviation accidents, which it has sole authority under federal law to investigate. Additionally, the NTSB probes certain marine accidents and accidents that occur in the use of railroads, highways, and pipelines. The five members of the board are appointed by the president.

The NTSB grew out of the long history of federal oversight of aviation. As early as 1926, Congress required the investigation of civil aviation crashes under the Air Commerce Act (Pub. L. No. 69-254, 44 Stat. 568). Over the next three decades, lawmakers created a maze of regulatory agencies, including the Civil Aeronautics Authority and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The Federal Aviation Act of 1958 (Pub. L. No. 85-726, 72 Stat. 731) gave duties for investigating accidents to the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), intending for the board to study aircraft and the actions of their pilots in the hopes of preventing future disasters.

As the airline industry grew, Congress reorganized its regulatory scheme. With passage of the Department of Transportation Act of 1966 (Pub. L. No. 89-670, 80 Stat. 935), lawmakers created the NTSB within the Department of Transportation and gave it the responsibilities formerly held by the CAB. However, the NTSB often ended up conducting investigations of the FAA. In 1974, in an attempt to avoid conflicts between agencies, Congress made the NTSB an independent board by passing the Independent Safety Board Act of 1974 (49 U.S.C.A. app. § 1901 [1982]). The act gave the NTSB sole responsibility for investigating airline crashes.

The investigatory powers of the NTSB are quite broad. Once its teams are dispatched to the site of an accident, they maintain exclusive control over the scene. Their authority includes seizing all evidence for examination, including an airline's flight recorder (the so-called black box). They can also bar other parties from their proceedings — an important element of autonomy given the inevitable litigation that follows airline accidents. In subsequent stages of an investigation, the NTSB is empowered to demand records, testimony, and other information from airline officials. The purpose of its work is to prepare public reports of two types: factual reports, and interpretive analyses of accidents to determine their probable cause.

The use of NTSB reports in court is controversial. Under federal law they are intended to be used to prevent further accidents from occurring, and therefore they are released to the public. But to a certain extent, they are forbidden by law from being used in civil lawsuits. Some form of this rule has been in effect since creation of the CAB in 1958. Section 1441(e) of the Independent Safety Board Act of 1974 stated, "No part of any report or reports of the National Transportation Safety Board relating to any accident or the investigation thereof, shall be admitted as evidence or used in any suit or action for damages growing out of any matter mentioned in such report or reports." However, courts have permitted civil litigants to use some NTSB report material, and the regulations have changed in response. Only the so-called probable cause reports are strictly impermissible in civil lawsuits, and NTSB employees are permitted only to testify as to factual matters surrounding their investigations. These limitations have upset some attorneys who argue that civil litigants should have full access to all NTSB data, but defenders have argued that the standard is necessary to protect the board's autonomy.

See: airlines.

This article is missing citations or needs footnotes. Please help add inline citations to guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. (November 2007)

National Transportation Safety Board
Official seal and emblem
Agency overview
Formed	April 1, 1967
Preceding agency	Civil Aeronautics Board
Jurisdiction	Federal government of the United States
Headquarters	490 L'Enfant Plaza, SW, Washington, D.C.
Employees	359 (2006)
Annual budget	US$76.7 million (2006)
Agency executives	Deborah Hersman, Chairman Christopher A. Hart, Vice Chairman
Website
www.ntsb.gov

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. Government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of highway crashes, ship and marine accidents, pipeline incidents and railroad accidents. When requested, the NTSB will assist the military with accident investigation.^[1] The NTSB is also in charge of investigating cases of hazardous waste releases that occur during transportation. Deborah Hersman was appointed as NTSB Chairman in July 2009.^[2] Mark Rosenker was appointed as Vice Chairman in 2003, and served as Acting Chairman from March, 2005 to January, 2009. The agency is based in Washington, D.C..

Contents 1 History 2 Organization 3 Investigations 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

History

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2009)

The NTSB was established as an independent organization in 1967 and took over the regulatory and investigative functions of the Civil Aeronautics Board, among other duties. Originally established with strong ties to the U.S. Department of Transportation, these ties were later severed under the Independent Safety Board Act of 1975. The organization receives its authority from Chapter 11, Title 49 of the United States Code. It has investigated over 124,000 aviation incidents since its establishment.

Organization

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2009)

The board has five members appointed by the President for five year terms, one of whom is designated the chairman by the President and then approved by the Senate for a fixed 2-year term. Another member is designated as vice chairman and becomes acting chairman when there is no formal chairman.^{[citation needed]}

No more than three of the five members can be from the same political party.^[3]

Organization within the Board is composed of separate sub-offices for highway safety, maritime safety, aviation safety, railroad, pipeline, and hazardous material investigations, research and engineering, recommendations and communications, academy and administrative law judges. These sub-offices report to the Office of the Managing Director.^{[citation needed]}

Investigations

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2009)

The NTSB is normally the lead organization in the investigation of a transportation accident within its sphere. However, this power can be surrendered to other organizations if the Attorney General declares the case to be linked to an intentional criminal act, although the NTSB would still provide technical support in such investigations. This occurred during the investigation of the September 11, 2001, attacks when the Department of Justice took over the investigation.^[4]

An investigation of an incident within the United States typically starts with the creation of a "go team", composed of specialists in fields relating to the incident. This is followed by the designation of other organizations or corporations as parties to the investigation. The Board may then choose to hold public hearings on the issue. Finally, it will compose a final statement and may issue safety recommendations. The Board has no legal authority to implement, or impose, its recommendations, upon the causative entities. That burden falls upon regulators of the varying modalities, at either the federal or state level.^{[citation needed]}

The NTSB may investigate incidents or accidents occurring outside the United States under certain circumstances. These may include:

• accidents or incidents occurring to American-registered or American-owned aircraft (other than an aircraft operated by the Armed Forces or by an intelligence agency of the United States) in foreign airspace if the aircraft both departed and was scheduled to land in the United States. This has happened on rare occasion with respect to flights to and within Alaska that have crashed in Canada.^[5]
• accidents or incidents occurring to American-registered or American-owned aircraft in countries without a transportation investigative board.^[6][7]

The NTSB, if asked, will also provide technical and other advice for a fee to transportation investigative boards in countries that do not have the equipment or specialized technicians available to undertake all aspects of a complex investigation.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Air safety
• Aviation accidents and incidents
• Federal Aviation Administration
• School bus safety
• Civil Aeronautics Board
• Vehicle inspection in the United States

References

1. ^ 49 U.S.C. § 1131
2. ^ Stump, Jake. "Obama taps Spencer native to head agency", Charleston Daily Mail, July 10, 2009
3. ^ NTSB Statutes
4. ^ "NTSB providing technical assistance to FBI investigation" (September 13, 2001 NTSB Press Release)
5. ^ "ANC94GA041". Ntsb.gov. http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief2.asp?ev_id=20001206X00826&ntsbno=ANC94GA041&akey=1. Retrieved 2009-01-16. 
6. ^ "IAD05FA023". Ntsb.gov. http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief2.asp?ev_id=20041213X01969&ntsbno=IAD05FA023&akey=1. Retrieved 2009-01-16. 
7. ^ "DCA05RA033". Ntsb.gov. 2005-02-03. http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief2.asp?ev_id=20050207X00143&ntsbno=DCA05RA033&akey=1. Retrieved 2009-01-16. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: National Transportation Safety Board

• NTSB website
• NTSB - The Investigative Process

v • d • e Aviation accident and incident investigation agencies Africa  AIB ·  CAA Asia  CAAC ·  IAC ·  CAD ·  DGCA · NTSC ·  JTSB ·  KOTSA ·  CAA ·  CAAP ·  AAIB ·  ASC ·  DCA Europe  IAC ·  ÚZPLN ·  AIB ·  OTK ·  BEA ·  BFU ·  AAIB ·  AAIU ·  ANSV ·  DSB ·  AIBN ·  GPIAA ·  CIAIAC ·  SHK ·  AAIB ·  AAIB North America  TSB ·  AAC ·  NTSB Oceania  ATSB ·  TAIC South America  CENIPA ·  UAEAC

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)