NTSB News

Boeing 737 in Alaska Air Accident Was Missing Bolts, US Says

A dramatic accident on an Alaska Airlines flight last month was apparently triggered by a door plug that hadn’t been properly attached before the plane was delivered by Boeing Co., US investigators said Tuesday. Four bolts that acted as a …

NTSB Issues Report on 2019 Kentucky Pipeline Explosion

A 2019 pipeline explosion that resulted in one death and the destruction of five homes in Kentucky happened when the pipeline ruptured and released natural gas caught fire, the National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday. Fourteen other homes were damaged …

Inspections Again Recommended by NTSB After Sinking of Fishing Boat

A fishing vessel that sank in New England, resulting in the loss of all four fishermen, likely capsized because of poor drainage of seawater from the rear deck and hatches that weren’t watertight, investigators said. The National Transportation Safety Board …

NTSB, FAA Agree to Lead Investigations of Space Travel Accidents

Two federal agencies agreed Friday which one will lead investigations of accidents in the nascent commercial space business that includes launching tourists far above the Earth. The National Transportation Safety Board will take the lead investigating accidents that involve death …

Pilot Error, Overloading to Blame for Michigan Crash That Killed 5

Federal investigators blame pilot error and an overloaded aircraft for a 2019 plane crash near a Michigan airport that killed five Indiana men and seriously injured a sixth person aboard. The National Transportation Safety Board said in its final report …

Safety Chief Objects to Use of Driver Error Statistic She Says Is Misleading

With traffic fatalities spiking higher, the nation’s top safety investigator says a widely cited government statistic that 94% of serious crashes are solely due to driver error is misleading and that the Transportation Department should stop using it. Jennifer Homendy, …

U.S. Safety Board Says Current Air Cargo Safety Rules for Lithium Batteries Pose Danger

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Monday urged strengthening air cargo shipping requirements for prototype and low-production lithium-ion batteries after a 2016 FedEx delivery truck fire in Canada. NTSB official Robert J. Hall said existing rules pose a …

New York Limo Crash Investigators Still Working to Identify Cause

The National Transportation Safety Board’s probe of a fatal limousine crash in upstate New York has not yet identified a cause, according to a preliminary report released earlier this week, after weeks of wrangling between federal inspectors and a local …

Pilot in Deadly California House Crash Was Disciplined

The pilot whose plane broke apart and crashed into a Southern California home, killing five people, was disciplined for dangerous flying years earlier, it was reported Friday. Antonio Pastini, 75, of Gardnerville, Nevada, was flying home after visiting his daughter …

Witnesses Say Plane Came Down in Multiple Pieces in California

A former crash investigator said he’s confident officials will figure out why a small plane broke apart in the air over a Southern California neighborhood, raining down chunks of metal and igniting a house fire that killed four people. The …