National Transportation Safety Board

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Seal of the National Transportation Safety Board

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is a U.S. government independent organization responsible for investigation of accidents involving aviation, highway, marine, pipelines and railroads in the United States. It is charged by the U.S. Congress to investigate every civil aviation accident in the United States, as well as significant accidents in other modes of transportation (such as the Big Bayou Canot train disaster near Mobile, Alabama). The organization is also in charge of investigating cases of hazardous waste releases that occur from modes of transportation. Mark Rosenker was appointed as Vice Chairman in 2003 and Acting Chairman in March 2005. He has held the position of the Chairman since August 2006. Robert Sumwalt is the vice chairman. The board is based in Washington, D.C.

1 History
2 Organization
3 Investigations
4 Accidents and incidents
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] History

It was established as an independent organization in 1967, taking over the investigative functions of the Civil Aeronautics Board, among other duties. Originally established with strong ties to the US 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.

[edit] Organization

The board has five members, one of whom is designated the chairman by the U.S. President and then approved by the U.S. Senate for a fixed 2-year term. Another member is designated as vice chairman, and becomes acting chairman when there is no formal chairman. 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 Management.

[edit] Investigations

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 US Attorney General declares the case to be linked to an intentional criminal act. This occurred during the investigation of the September 11th, 2001 attacks, when the US Justice Department took over the investigation.

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 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 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. [1]
accidents or incidents occurring to American-registered or American-owned aircraft in countries without a transportation investigative board. [2] [3]

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.

[edit] Accidents and incidents

The NTSB has investigated thousands of accidents and incidents since it was formed in 1967. These have included:

Date	Location	Operator	Make/Model	Fatal	Surviving
01/13/82	Washington, D.C.	Air Florida	Boeing 737-222	70	4
01/23/82	Boston, MA	World Airways	McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30	2	198
07/09/82	New Orleans, LA	Pan Am	Boeing 727-235	137	0
11/08/82	Honolulu, HI	Pan Am	Boeing 747-100	1	274
01/09/83	Brainerd, MN	Republic Airlines	Convair 580-11-A	1	29
10/11/83	Pinckneyville, IL	Air Illinois	Hawker Siddeley HS-748-2A	7	0
01/01/85	La Paz, Bolivia	Eastern Air Lines	Boeing 727-225	21	0
01/21/85	Reno, NV	Galaxy Airlines	Lockheed 188C	64	1
08/02/85	Dallas/FT Worth, TX	Delta Air Lines	Lockheed L-1011-385-1	126	26
09/06/85	Milwaukee, WI	Midwest Express Airlines	Douglas DC-9-14	27	0
12/12/85	Gander, Newfoundland	Arrow Airways	Douglas DC-8-63	248	0
02/04/86	Near Athens, Greece	Trans World Airlines	Boeing 727-231	4	110
02/14/87	Durango, MX	Ports of Call	Boeing 707-323B	1	125
08/16/87	Romulus, MI	Northwest Airlines	McDonnell Douglas DC-9-82	148	1
11/15/87	Denver, CO	Continental Airlines	McDonnell Douglas DC-9-14	25	52
12/07/87	San Luis Obispo, CA	Pacific Southwest Airlines	British Aerospace BAe-146-200	38	0
08/31/88	Dallas/FT Worth, TX	Delta Air Lines	Boeing 727-232	12	89
12/21/88	Lockerbie, Scotland	Pan Am	Boeing 747-121	243	0
02/08/89	Santamaria, Azores	Independent Air	Boeing 707	137	0
02/24/89	Honolulu, HI	United Airlines	Boeing 747-122	9	328
04/28/89	Maui, HI	Aloha Airlines	Boeing 737-297	1	94
07/19/89	Sioux City, IA	United Airlines	McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10	110	175
09/20/89	Flushing, NY	USAir	Boeing 737-400	2	55
12/27/89	Miami, FL	Eastern Air Lines	Boeing 727-225B	1	46
10/03/90	Cape Canaveral, FL	Eastern Air Lines	McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31	1	90
12/03/90	Romulus, MI	Northwest Airlines	McDonnell Douglas DC-9-14	7	33
02/01/91	Los Angeles, CA	USAir	Boeing 737-300	20	63
03/03/91	Colorado Spgs, CO	United Airlines	Boeing 737-291	20	0
03/22/92	Flushing, NY	USAir	Fokker 28-4000	25	22
07/02/94	Charlotte, NC	USAir	Douglas DC-9-30	37	20
09/08/94	Aliquippa, PA	USAir	Boeing B-737-300	127	0
10/31/94	Roselawn, IN	American Eagle	Atr-72-212	64	0
12/20/95	Cali, Colombia	American Airlines	Boeing B-757	152	4
05/11/96	Miami, FL	ValuJet Airlines	McDonnell Douglas DC-9	110	0
07/06/96	Pensacola, FL	Delta Air Lines	McDonnell Douglas MD-88	2	140
07/17/96	Moriches, NY	Trans World Airlines	Boeing 747	230	0
08/02/97	Lima, Peru	Continental Airlines	Boeing 757-200	1	141
12/28/97	Pacific Ocean	United Airlines	Boeing 747	1	373
06/01/99	Little Rock, AR	American Airlines	McDonnell Douglas MD-80	10	129
01/31/00	Point Mugu, CA	Alaska Airlines	McDonnell Douglas MD-83	83	0
09/11/01	New York City, NY	American Airlines	Boeing 767-200	81	0
09/11/01	New York City, NY	United Airlines	Boeing 767-200	56	0
09/11/01	Arlington, VA	American Airlines	Boeing 757-200	58	0
09/11/01	Shanksville, PA	United Airlines	Boeing 757	37	0
11/12/01	Belle Harbor, NY	American Airlines	Airbus Industries A300-600	251	0
01/08/03	Charlotte, NC	US Airways Express	Beech 1900	19	0
10/19/04	Kirksville, MO	Corporate Airlines	British Aerospace Jetstream 32	13	2
08/27/06	Lexington, KY	Comair	Bombardier Canadair CRJ-100ER	49	1
10/11/06	New York, NY	Cirrus SR20(Private)	Cirrus SR20 N929CD	2	0