The NTSB may issue safety recommendations at any point during the investigation of transportation accidents and in connection with safety studies. Recommendations specify actions that recipients can take to help improve safety by addressing a specific issue uncovered during an investigation or study. Letters containing the recommendations are sent to the organization best able to address the safety issue, whether it is public or private.
CAROL (Case Analysis and Reporting Online) is our search tool for investigations and safety recommendations across all modes. Future enhancements will include improved access to docket items as well.
CAROL includes all recommendations issued by the NTSB.
CAROL works in all modern browsers.
Search Capabilities
CAROL enhances the database search process on ntsb.gov. You can search data by:
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SIMPLE SEARCH, which allows you to search any of the seven available fields across any mode and to search on the three aviation specific fields.
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ADVANCED SEARCH, which allows you to build custom searches by selecting from a variety of investigative and recommendation fields. You can select whether to display results that match any or all of your individual query rules, or group your rules so results match any or all of the multiple rules in your grouping.
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PUBLISHED SEARCHES, which allows you to view already published popular searches on topics such as safety recommendations associated with the Most Wanted List (MWL). These canned searches show dynamic data reflecting current information in the database each time you open them.
CAROL includes both investigative and recommendation data.
When using these search options, you first choose whether to view the results as a list of investigations or recommendations. Remember, the recommendations view provides a complete data set. The investigations view only displays the investigative records that have been created in the system. For aviation investigations, records from 2008 through the present are available. For investigations in other modes, data from 2010 through the present is currently being imported into the system.
Because not all investigation data is available in CAROL, when searching for safety recommendations, always choose the
RECOMMENDATIONS option in the Search for menu.
See the
Help with CAROL page page for more information on using the
ADVANCED SEARCH.
Starting your Safety Recommendations Search using
ADVANCED SEARCH
To begin, visit the
CAROL homepage and click the
ADVANCED SEARCH option from the top left menu items and select the circular button to the left of the
RECOMMENDATIONS option in the Search for menu.
You can select whether you want your results to match all of your search rules or any of your search rules. In the field labelled “Find results that match (ALL or ANY) of the following rules:” select the ALL option to have your query provide results that match all of your rules. Select the ANY option to have your query return results that match any of your rules.
To add a rule to your query, click the down arrow on the Field box. This shows the field options in a drop-down menu. The fields for the safety recommendations options are described below.
Your results will be displayed as a list of recommendations.
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Field Descriptions – Safety recommendations – Admin info
Safety recommendation ID
Safety recommendation ID refers to the recommendation number. This ID starts with a letter that corresponds to the recommendation mode. A for aviation, H for highway, I for intermodal, M for marine, P for pipeline, and R for railroad. The letter is followed by a dash. Then there are two numerals that represent the calendar year in which the recommendation was adopted. This is not necessary the year that the recommendation was issued. These two digits are followed by another dash. Then there are three numerals that represent the order in which the recommendation was adopted in that year and in that recommendation mode. For example, M-11-021 is the twenty-first marine recommendation adopted in calendar year 2011. To search for an individual, specific recommendation number, always enter the full recommendation number with all the lead-in zeroes, for example, M-09-001.
This field is available on the SIMPLE SEARCH, and ADVANCED SEARCH. In the SIMPLE SEARCH, always type in the full recommendation number, including lead-in zeroes. For example, A-01-005. In the ADVANCED SEARCH, you can enter partial recommendation numbers, such as M-11-, if you select the
Condition contains. Searching for M-11- with the
Condition contains will return all marine safety recommendations adopted in calendar year 2011.
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Recommendation text
Recommendation text refers to the text of the recommendation sent to the recipient or recipients. This field is available on the SIMPLE SEARCH and ADVANCED SEARCH. On the SIMPLE SEARCH you can enter one or more words to search the recommendation text. On the SIMPLE SEARCH both words must appear in the recommendation text for a result to be returned, but the words do not need to be sequential. On the ADVANCED SEARCH, you can choose the
Condition contains, does not contain, is, is not, starts with, or
ends with. In the ADVANCED SEARCH, multiple words must appear in sequential order in the
Recommendation text to appear as a query result
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Addressee name
Safety recommendation letters are addressed to the entity best able to act on a problem, whether it be public or private. Addressee name is a non-standardized text-entry field. Names of specific agencies, organizations, states, or cities may be used, and reflect the name at the time the recommendation was issued. United States Department of Transportation Office of the Secretary and all DOT modal agencies are listed as acronyms. For example, DOT, FAA, FHWA, FMCSA, FRA, FTA, and NHTSA. United States Coast Guard is also listed as an acronym (USCG). All other entities are listed using their full names. Federal government agencies are listed starting with the cabinet level agency. For example, United States Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service. If you aren’t sure of the name used in the database, type a partial name and use the contains Condition. Then re-do the search with the full correct name, after you obtain it. While addressees are identified individually in the database, the actual letter salutation may show addressees only in the aggregate. Addressees for agencies within a state or commonwealth begin with the state or commonwealth name. For example, State of Georgia, County of DeKalb, Police Department, Special Operations. The Addressee name field is available in the ADVANCED SEARCH and the SIMPLE SEARCH. On the SIMPLE SEARCH both words must appear anywhere in the Addressee name for a result to be returned, but the words do not need to be sequential. On the ADVANCED SEARCH, you can choose the
Condition contains, does not contain, is, is not, starts with, or
ends with. In the ADVANCED SEARCH, multiple words must appear in sequential order in the
Addressee name to appear as a query result.
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Addressee category
Each addressee in the database is assigned an Addressee category. The Addressee category options are Associations, Federal Government, Foreign, Local Government, Private Industry, State Government, and Union. This search parameter is only available in the ADVANCED SEARCH. The
Condition options for
Addressee category are
is and
is not.
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Correspondence text
This free text search field is only available in the ADVANCED SEARCH. It searches the text of the correspondence we have sent to the recommendation recipients and the text of the correspondence the recipients have sent to us. On the ADVANCED SEARCH, you can choose the Conditioncontains, does not contain, is, is not, starts with, or ends with. In the ADVANCED SEARCH, multiple words must appear in sequential order in the
Correspondence text to appear as a query result.
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Field Descriptions – Safety recommendations- Status
Overall open/closed
This field is only available in the ADVANCED SEARCH. It allows you to search whether the overall status of a recommendation is open or closed. (“Open” and “closed” each include multiple statuses). The “Open” statuses are:
- Open—Acceptable Response,
- Open—Acceptable Alternate Response,
- Open—Unacceptable Response,
- Open—Response Received, and
- Open—Await Response.
The “Closed” statuses are:
- Closed—Exceeds Recommended Action,
- Closed—Acceptable Action,
- Closed—Unacceptable Action,
- Closed—Unacceptable Action/ No Response Received,
- Closed—Reconsidered,
- Closed—No Longer Applicable,
- Closed—Superseded,
- Closed—Acceptable Action/ Superseded, and
- Closed—Unacceptable Action/ Superseded.
For multiple recipient recommendations, the overall status is the status of the plurality of open recommendation recipients, if there are remaining open recipients. The plurality means the status most often encountered but not necessarily the majority. Here’s an example with 7 open recommendation recipients:
- 1st recipient: Open—Acceptable Response
- 2nd recipient: Open—Acceptable Response
- 3rd recipient: Open—Unacceptable Response
- 4th recipient: Open—Await Response
- 5th recipient: Open—Initial Response Received
- 6th recipient: Closed—Acceptable Action
- 7th recipient: Closed—Acceptable Action
The overall status would be Open—Acceptable Response because it is the plurality of open recipients. It is not the majority because in this case there is no majority of open recipients; only 2 out of 5, not 3 out of 5, are in Open—Acceptable Response status.
If all the recipients are closed, the overall status is the status of the plurality of all recipients. For single recipient recommendations, the overall status and the addressee status are the same. The
Condition options for
Overall open/closed are is and
is not.
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Overall status
This field is only available in the ADVANCED SEARCH. It allows you to search on the overall status of safety recommendations. In the Query value field, you choose from the list of all statuses. For multiple recipient recommendations, the overall status is the status of the plurality or open recommendation recipients, if there are remaining open recipients. If the recommendation is closed for all the recipients, the overall status is the status of the plurality of all recipients. For single recipient recommendations, the overall status and the addressee status are the same. The
Condition options for
Overall status are is and is not.
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Addressee open/closed
This field is only available in ADVANCED SEARCH. The addressee status refers to the status of the recommendation to an individual recipient. The overall status and the addressee status are the same if there is only one recipient for a recommendation. If there is more than one recommendation recipient, the addressee status can vary from the overall status. This field allows you to select whether the addressee status is an open or a closed classification status. “Open” and “closed” each include multiple statuses. The “Open” statuses are:
- Open—Acceptable Response,
- Open—Acceptable Alternate Response,
- Open—Unacceptable Response,
- Open—Response Received, and Open—Await Response.
The “Closed” statuses are:
- Closed—Exceeds Recommended Action,
- Closed—Acceptable Action,
- Closed—Unacceptable Action,
- Closed—Unacceptable Action/ No Response Received,
- Closed—Reconsidered,
- Closed—No Longer Applicable,
- Closed—Superseded,
- Closed—Acceptable Action/ Superseded, and
- Closed—Unacceptable Action/ Superseded.
The
Condition options for
Addressee open/closed are
is and is not.
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Addressee status
This field is only available in the ADVANCED SEARCH. It allows you to search on the addressee status of safety recommendations. In the Query value field, you choose from the list of all statuses. For single recipient recommendations, the overall status and the addressee status are the same. If there is more than one recommendation recipient, the addressee status can vary from the overall status. The
Condition options for Addressee status are
is and
is not.
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Date issued
This field is only available in the ADVANCED SEARCH. It refers to the date the safety recommendation was transmitted to the recipient. For date parameters enter a date using the month/day/year format. For example, 01/05/2005. To create a date range, make two rules. Choose the Condition is on or after and enter the first date in your range. Choose the Condition is on or before and enter the most recent date in your range. For example, for the date range January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016, the parameters would be Condition is on or after 01/01/2015 and Condition is on or before 12/31/2016. The
Condition options for
Date issued are is, is not, is after, is before, is on or
after, and
is on or before.
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Date overall closed
This field is only available in the ADVANCED SEARCH. This field refers to the date that the safety recommendation closed for its last recipient. For single-recipient recommendations, the overall date closed and the addressee date closed are the same. For multiple-recipient recommendations, the overall date closed and the addressee date closed can vary. For date parameters enter a date using the month/day/year format. For example, 01/05/2005. To create a date range, make two rules. Choose the Condition is on or after and enter the first date in your range. Choose the Condition is on or before and enter the most recent date in your range. For example, for the date range January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016, the parameters would be Condition is on or after 01/01/2015 and Conditionis on or before 12/31/2016. The
Condition options for Date overall closedare is, is not, is after, is before, is on or after, and is on or before.
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Date addressee closed
This field is only available in the ADVANCED SEARCH. This field refers to the date that a recommendation status was changed to closed for an individual recipient. For single-recipient recommendations, the overall date closed and the addressee date closed are the same. For multiple-recipient recommendations, the overall date closed and the addressee date closed can vary. For date parameters enter a date using the month/day/year format. For example, 01/05/2005. To create a date range, make two rules. Choose the Condition is on or after and enter the first date in your range. Choose the Condition is on or before and enter the most recent date in your range. For example, for the date range January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016, the parameters would be Condition is on or after 01/01/2015 and Condition is on or before 12/31/2016. The
Condition options for Date addressee closed are is, is not, is after, is before, is on or after, and
is on or before.
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Is reiterated
This field is only available in the ADVANCED SEARCH. This field refers to whether a safety recommendation has been reiterated or not. We reiterate recommendations when the safety issue addressed in the recommendation comes up again in a later investigation or study. Recommendations can be reiterated multiple times. The
Condition options for
Is reiterated are is and is not. The
Query value options are
True and
False.
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Times reiterated
This field is only available in the ADVANCED SEARCH. This field refers to how many times a safety recommendation has been reiterated. We reiterate recommendations when the safety issue addressed in the recommendation comes up again in a later investigation or study. Recommendations can be reiterated multiple times. The Condition options for
Times reiterated are is, is not, is greater than, and is less than. The
Query value box has up and down arrows allowing you to select a number. Safety recommendations cannot be reiterated a negative number of times.
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Field Descriptions – Safety recommendations- Other
Coding text
This field is only available in the ADVANCED SEARCH. It refers to the text of the taxonomy used to categorize safety recommendations. We are working on updating the recommendations to assign them the appropriate categorizations to facilitate the optimal use of this field. This is not a complete data field.
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On Most Wanted List
This field is only available in the ADVANCED SEARCH. We associate related recommendations to each issue area on our Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements (MWL). The MWL represents the NTSB’s advocacy priorities and is designed to increase awareness of the most critical changes needed to reduce transportation accidents and save lives. This field allows you to search for SRs associated with the current MWL. The Query value options for the
On Most Wanted List field are
True and
False. The
Condition options are is and is not.
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Recommendation mode
This field is only available in the ADVANCED SEARCH. This field refers to the mode of the individual recommendation, which may differ from the investigation mode. For example, the aviation office may investigate parasailing accidents, causing the investigation to be associated with the aviation mode. But, the recommendations that the aviation office issues may be marine recommendations. For these marine recommendations, issued by the aviation office, the recommendation mode is marine. The first letter of the recommendation ID refers to the recommendation mode. A for aviation, H for Highway, I for intermodal, M for marine, P for pipeline, and R for rail. To search the recommendation mode, select from the list of choices in the
Query value field. Intermodal recommendations are a unique category that may cross two or more modal areas; however, they will only be represented under intermodal. The
Condition options are is and
is not.
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Accident abstract text
Accident abstract text refers to the text of the abstract for the investigation or study which generated the recommendation. This field is only available in the ADVANCED SEARCH. You can choose the Condition contains,
does not contain, is, is not, starts with, or ends with. In the ADVANCED SEARCH, multiple words entered in the
Query value field must appear in sequential order in the
Accident abstract text to appear as a query result.
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Priority level
This field is only available on the ADVANCED SEARCH. We occasionally designate safety recommendations as urgent, when they represent a pressing safety issue. We expect recipients to take action on urgent recommendations immediately. This field allows you to search for
Urgent or Non-urgent recommendations in the
Query value drop-down menu. The
Condition options are is and
is not.
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Is hazmat
This field is only available on the ADVANCED SEARCH. This field designates whether a recommendation concerns hazardous materials. Hazmat recommendations can be associated with any recommendation mode. The
Query value options are
True and
False. The
Condition options are
is and is not.
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Is NPRM
This field is only available on the ADVANCED SEARCH. We monitor the Federal Register and comment on submissions from other federal agencies that concern transportation safety. Sometimes, our comments reference safety recommendations. If our comments reference recommendations, the comments are included in the recommendation database correspondence history and the recommendations are marked as being associated with an NPRM response. This field allows you to search for recommendations associated with our comments on other federal agencies’ Federal Register notices. The
Query value options are
True and
False. The
Condition options are is and
is not.
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Recommendation Status
The status of a recommendation is "open" until the sufficient action has been achieved to mark it "closed". Please see the chart below for a list and explanation of all the recommendation statuses. Status determination is made periodically by the Board.
Status Assignment Definitions |
Status |
Status Definition |
CEX |
Closed--Exceeds Recommended Action: Response by recipient indicates action on the safety recommendation has been completed. The action taken surpasses what the Safety Board envisioned. |
CAA |
Closed--Acceptable Action: Response by recipient indicates action on the safety recommendation has been completed. The action complies with the safety recommendation. |
CAAA |
Closed--Acceptable Alternate Action: Response by recipient indicates an alternate course of action has been completed that meets the objective of the safety recommendation. |
CUA |
Closed--Unacceptable Action: Response by recipient expresses disagreement with the need outlined in the recommendation. There is no further evidence to offer, and the Safety Board concludes that further correspondence on, or discussion of, the matter would not change the recipient's position. This status can also be used when the timeframe goals outlined in this order have not been met. |
CUAN |
Closed--Unacceptable Action/No Response Received: No response to the recommendation was ever received. |
CR |
Closed--Reconsidered: Recipient rejects the safety recommendation and supports this rejection with a rationale with which the Board concurs. Reasons for the "Reconsidered" status would include situations where the recipient is able to convince the Board that the proposed action would not be effective or that it might create other problems. This status is also assigned when the recipient of a recommendation was in compliance before the recommendation was issued or when the recipient was incorrectly chosen and cannot perform the recommended action. |
CNLA |
Closed--No Longer Applicable: The recommended action has been overtaken by events. For example, if technology and/or regulatory action
has eliminated the reason for the recommendation or if a company has gone out of business. |
CS |
Closed--Superseded: Applied to recommendations held in an open status when a new, more appropriate safety recommendation is issued that includes the necessary elements of the recommendation to be closed. |
CAAS, CAAAS, CUAS |
Closed--Acceptable/Acceptable Alternate/Unacceptable Action Superseded: Applied to recommendations held in an open status when a new, more appropriate safety recommendation is issued that includes the necessary elements of the recommendation to be closed. The Board determines the Acceptable/Acceptable Alternate/Unacceptable status based on the criteria defined above prior to superseding the recommendation. |
OAA |
Open--Acceptable Response: Response by recipient indicates a planned action that would comply with the safety recommendation when completed. |
OAAR |
Open--Acceptable Alternate Response: Response by recipient indicates an alternate plan or implementation program that would satisfy the objective of the safety recommendation when implemented. |
OUA |
Open--Unacceptable Response: Response by recipient expresses disagreement with the need outlined in the recommendation or attempts to convince the Board (unsuccessfully) that an alternative course of action is acceptable. The Board believes, however, that there is enough supporting evidence to ask the recipient to reconsider its position. This status can also be used when the Board believes that action is not being taken in a timely manner. |
ORR |
Open--Response Received: Response has been received from recipient, but staff evaluation of the response has not been approved by the Board Members. |
OAR |
Open--Await Response: When a safety recommendation is issued, the status "Open-Await Response" is automatically assigned. |
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