Aviation NTSB

Who investigates aviation accidents? The government has an agency called the National Transportation Safety Board, NTSB. They are the government agency that have the responsibility for investigating all accidents. Their job is to determine what the cause of the accident is and they send out investigators who do a survey of the accident scene, take statements from witnesses, take photographs, if necessary; they bring in experts to determine what the cause of the accident was. And at the conclusion of their investigation which could take months or sometimes years, they come out with a report that’s called probable cause report in which they make the determination as to who in their opinion, what was the probable cause for the accident. Normally, the attorneys for the victims of the accident, whether the individuals who were injured or the families of people who were killed, can not participate in the invitatory process undertaken by the NTSB, although, they can hire their own experts to evaluate any evidence that is available early on. Once the NTSB is completed their investigation, all of their information becomes a matter of public record including their photographs, documents and some times the plane itself and any of the parts. Then the attorneys for the families will hire their own experts, they could be engineers, they could be pilots, they could be experienced in metallurgy or in design to make their own determination as to what the cause was of the accident and who is at-fault.