Open Government

​​NTSB is committed to achieving the goals of the Open Government Directive.The three principles of transparency, participation, and collaboration form the current plan for Agency information and systems. Below are resources available to the public in support of these goals.

  •  Investigation Reports contain the facts, conditions, circumstances, analysis, conclusions and probable cause of accident investigations and are published for all accidents which resulted in an investigation involving the launch of a team of specialists.
  • Safety Studies are the examination of the effectiveness of or need for policies, programs, program management and operating practices, regulations, rulemaking, or other actions of a Government agency in reducing transportation losses; the technical aspects of a transportation system, subsystem, or component; accident data through statistical analysis techniques; or the history and progress of safety improvements undertaken to solve a particular problem in aviation, highway, railroad, pipeline, marine, or hazardous materials transportation.
  • Opinion and Orders are decisions of the Board resulting from the review of appeals from decisions of the Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard involving seamen's certificates or initial decisions of the NTSB Administrative Law Judges involving airmen and/or air safety certificates
  • Annual Aviation Reviews contain statistical tabulations and graphs of data compiled from reports of accidents involving US air carriers, commuter and on-demand carriers, and general aviation operations in a particular calendar year. The report is divided into sections according to the Part of the Code of Federal Regulations under which the aircraft were flown when the accidents occurred.
  • The Aviation Accident Database contains information from 1962 and later about civil aviation accidents and selected incidents within the United States, its territories and possessions, and in international waters. 
  • Safety Recommendations are issued by the NTSB following the investigation of transportation accidents and the completion of safety studies. Recommendations usually address a specific issue uncovered during an investigation or study and specify how to correct the situation.
  • NTSB Datasets are available on Data.Gov for public consumption.
  • NTSB Docket Management System contains all public electronic documents pertaining to accident investigations.
  • Electronic R​​eading Room - "Proactive disclosure" of documents automatically posted online and available to the public without having to make a FOIA request. 
  • NTSB Strategic Plans and Actions
  • FOIA Reports
  • Plain Language​ Information​

Report An Aviation Accident

Witness Reports​​

If you witnessed an aircraft accident and would like to provide the NTSB with a statement of your observations, please prepare a statement and email it to ​ wit​​​[email protected].​ ​​Please be sure to include a telephone number so that an investigator can contact you if necessary.​

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