Office of Aviation Safety

The mission of AS is to accomplish the following: 1) Investigate all civil domestic air carrier, commuter, and air taxi accidents; in-flight collisions; fatal and nonfatal general aviation accidents; and certain public-use aircraft accidents, 2) Participate in the investigation of major airline crashes in foreign countries that involve U.S. carriers or U.S.-manufactured or -designed equipment to fulfill U.S. obligations under International Civil Aviation Organization agreements, and 3) Conduct investigations of safety issues that extend beyond a single accident to examine specific aviation safety problems from a broader perspective.

The Office of Aviation Safety has the responsibility for investigating domestic aviation accidents and incidents (about 1,750 annually) and for proposing probable cause for the Board's approval. In conjunction with other offices within the NTSB, the office also works to formulate recommendations to prevent the recurrence of similar accidents and incidents, and to otherwise improve aviation safety. The Office of Aviation Safety includes a number of regional offices spread throughout the United States to ensure that NTSB personnel are within closer proximity to potential accident sites.