NTSB Number SPC-06/03

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Summary:  This short video describes the role of the National Transportation Safety Board as one of the world's foremost accident investigation agencies.

Total running time is 00:03:34.
Captions are also available as narrative text.
A copy of the video on CD-ROM is available upon request from our Records Management Division.
 

Narrative text:

The National Transportation Safety Board is one of the world's foremost accident investigation agencies. Our job is to find out what causes transportation accidents, and to recommend safety improvements to prevent them from reoccurring. Established in 1967, the Board is a small, independent Federal agency headed by five Board Members who are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The Board investigates transportation accidents in all modes -- aviation, marine, highway, rail, and pipeline.

About 2,000 aviation accidents are investigated every year, ranging from small private aircraft to jumbo jets, and even space transportation. The NTSB also assists in major airline crash investigations overseas involving U.S. manufactured aircraft and components, or U.S. registered aircraft. While the majority of the Board's investigations are in aviation, we also investigate hundreds of surface accidents each year focusing on accidents involving dangers to the traveling public and recurring safety problems. And we also investigate major pipeline accidents and accidents involving the release of hazardous materials.

[News Report:"Federal transportation officials have already begun the task of trying to find the cause for the crash."]

One of the more publicly visible aspects of an investigation is the NTSB go-team, which conducts the initial onsite inspection of the accident scene. The go-team possesses a wide range of accident investigation, analytical, media and victim and family assistance skills. The length of time a go-team remains on site varies, but a team usually completes its onsite work within 7 to 10 days. While at the scene, the team recovers evidence vital to finding the cause of an accident.

In 1996, the NTSB took an additional assignment. In the aftermath of major transportation disasters, the Safety Board coordinates on-scene efforts of all Federal services provided to accident victims and their families. The Safety Board ensures that families and friends receive accurate and timely information about their loved ones, the accident, the identification process, and coordinates the return of personal effects. Afterwards, the Board periodically updates families about the investigation's progress.

The heart of the Board's technological detective work is conducted in fully-equipped state-of-the-art laboratories at our headquarters in Washington, D.C. and other high-tech facilities around the world. After months of tests and analysis, a final report and safety recommendations are drafted by investigators and presented to the full five-Member board for discussion and approval, often at a public meeting in Washington. The entire process, from onsite investigation to the final report, normally takes 12 to 18 months. The final approved report, along with additional investigation data, is available to the public at our website and from our Office of Public Inquiries.

Our final products are the recommendations that result from our accident investigations. Each recommendation urges government agencies, transportation companies or organizations to take actions, that the Board believes will improve safety and prevent similar accidents. Right now, somewhere in the United States or around the world, dedicated men and women of the NTSB are on the scene of a transportation accident trying to determine what went wrong and what the NTSB can do to prevent it from happening again.