A crash between an American Airlines passenger flight and an Army helicopter outside Washington, D.C., killed 67 people, bringing increased attention to the government organization in charge of investigating aviation mishaps.
During a news conference Thursday, National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Hommendy described the crash investigation as a “all-hands-on-deck event” for the agency. She was joined by board members and a senior investigator overseeing the probe.
Here are some things you should know about the NTSB:
What does the agency do?
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent federal agency that investigates all civil aviation accidents as well as serious incidents involving other modes of transportation in the United States, such as railroad disasters and major accidents involving motor vehicles, marine vessels, pipelines, and commercial space operators.
“We’re here to assure the American people that we will pursue every possible avenue in this investigation,” Hommendy added, emphasizing that the investigation is still in its early stages. “We are going to conduct a thorough investigation of this entire tragedy, looking at the facts.”
The agency has five board members who serve five-year terms and are appointed by the president and ratified by the United States Senate.
How will the probe proceed?
The NTSB will form numerous working groups to investigate various aspects of Wednesday’s incident, according to board member Todd Inman.
According to Inman, those groups include operations, which will examine flight history and crewmember duties; structures, which will document airframe wreckage and the accident scene; power plants, which will focus on aircraft engines and engine accessories; systems, which will study the electrical, hydraulic, and pneumatic components of the two aircraft; and air traffic control, which will review flight track surveillance information, including radar and controller-pilot communication
According to Inman, the investigation will also include a human-performance group that will be part of the operations, air traffic control, and helicopter groups and will study crew performance as well as any factors that may have contributed to human error, such as fatigue, medications, medical histories, training, and workload.
How long will the investigation take?
NTSB authorities did not indicate how long the inquiry will last on Thursday, but crash investigations typically take one to two years to conclude.
Within a few weeks following the accident, the agency normally issues a preliminary report that contains a summary of the facts gathered on the site.
What is NTSB’s history?
The NTSB’s history begins in 1926, when Congress authorized the U.S. Department of Commerce to investigate airplane accidents.
It was founded as an autonomous agency inside the United States Department of Transportation in 1967, but Congress split it as a stand-alone entity in 1974, making it completely independent of all other federal agencies.
Since its inception in 1967, the organization estimates that it has examined over 153,000 aviation accidents and incidents.