The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of highway crashes, ship and marine accidents, pipeline incidents, bridge failures, and railroad accidents. The NTSB is also in charge of investigating cases of hazardous materials releases that occur during transportation. The agency is based in Washington, D.C. It has four regional offices, located in Anchorage, Alaska; Denver, Colorado; Ashburn, Virginia; and Seattle, Washington. The agency also operates a national training center at its Ashburn facility.
CommuteAir is a regional airline of the United States founded in 1989. Today, CommuteAir operates more than 1600 weekly flights to over 75 U.S. destinations and 3 in Mexico, with Embraer ERJ-145 aircraft, from its bases at Denver, Washington–Dulles, and Houston–Intercontinental. The company was previously called CommutAir until July 26, 2022, when it legally changed its name to the present-day CommuteAir.
A Notice to Airmen/Notice to Air Men/Notice to Airman/Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) is a notice filed with an aviation authority to alert aircraft pilots of potential hazards along a flight route or at a location that could affect the flight. NOTAMs are notices or advisories that contain information concerning the establishment, conditions or change in any aeronautical facility, service, procedure or hazard, the timely knowledge of which may be essential to personnel and systems concerned with flight operations. NOTAMs are created and transmitted by government agencies and airport operators under guidelines specified by Annex 15: Aeronautical Information Services of the Convention on International Civil Aviation (CICA). A NOTAM is filed with an aviation authority to alert aircraft pilots of any hazards en route or at a specific location, or Flight Information Region. The authority, in turn, provides a means of disseminating relevant NOTAMs to pilots.
The Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) is the largest pilot union in the world, representing more than 75,000 pilots from 43 U.S. and Canadian airlines. ALPA was founded on 27 July 1931 and is a member of the AFL-CIO and the Canadian Labour Congress. Known internationally as U.S.-ALPA, ALPA is also a member of the IFALPA.
Allegheny Airlines Flight 853 was a regularly scheduled Allegheny Airlines flight from Boston, Massachusetts, to St. Louis, Missouri, with stops in Baltimore, Maryland, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Indianapolis, Indiana. On September 9, 1969, the aircraft serving the flight, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9, collided in mid-air with a Piper PA-28 light aircraft near Fairland, Indiana. The DC-9 was carrying 78 passengers and 4 crew members, and the Piper was leased to a student pilot on a solo cross-country flight. All 83 occupants of both aircraft were killed in the accident and both aircraft were destroyed.
Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 was a controlled flight into terrain accident of a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 during approach to Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina. The incident occurred on September 11, 1974, killing 72 of the 82 people on board. The scheduled flight was from Charleston Municipal Airport to Chicago O'Hare, with an intermediate stop in Charlotte.
Continental Express Flight 2574 was a scheduled domestic passenger airline flight operated by Britt Airways from Laredo International Airport in Laredo, Texas to Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH) in Houston, Texas. On September 11, 1991, the Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia turboprop, registered N33701, crashed while initiating its landing sequence, killing all 14 people on board. The aircraft wreckage hit an area near Eagle Lake, Texas, approximately 65 miles (105 km) west-southwest of the airport.
ALM Antillean Airlines Flight 980 was a flight scheduled to fly from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City to Princess Juliana International Airport in St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles, on May 2, 1970. After several unsuccessful landing attempts, the aircraft's fuel was exhausted, and it made a forced water landing (ditching) in the Caribbean Sea 48 km off St. Croix, with 23 fatalities and 40 survivors. The accident is one of a small number of intentional water ditchings of jet airliners.
Gregory Allen Feith is an American former Senior Air Safety Investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). He currently works as a consultant on aviation safety and security matters in the private sector, and as the aviation expert for NBC and MSNBC. He also serves as the technical advisor in a number of television programs such as Mayday, Seconds From Disaster, and Why Planes Crash while maintaining a busy speaking schedule.
Los Angeles Airways Flight 841 was a Sikorsky S-61 helicopter that crashed at 5:50 p.m. on Wednesday May 22nd 1968 in the city of Paramount, California. All twenty passengers and three crew members were killed. The aircraft was destroyed by impact and fire. The probable cause of the accident was a mechanical failure in the blade rotor system, which then allowed one blade to strike the side of the fuselage. The other four blades were then thrown out of balance and all five rotor blades broke and then the rear fuselage and tail separated from the rest of the airframe. The cause of the mechanical failure is undetermined. At the time, it was the worst helicopter-related accident in U.S. aviation history, not to be surpassed until the 1986 Grand Canyon mid-air collision which killed 25.
AVAir Flight 3378, was a scheduled flight under the American Eagle branding from Raleigh–Durham International Airport to Richmond International Airport which crashed after takeoff from Raleigh-Durham International Airport late on the night of February 19, 1988. All 12 people on board were killed in the accident.
Vieques Air Link Flight 901A was a flight from Vieques Airport in Vieques, Puerto Rico, to St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands that crashed on August 2, 1984, killing all nine passengers and crew on board.
UPS Airlines Flight 1354 (5X1354/UPS1354) was a scheduled cargo flight from Louisville, Kentucky, to Birmingham, Alabama. On August 14, 2013, the Airbus A300 flying the route crashed and burst into flames short of the runway on approach to Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport. Both pilots were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. They were the only people aboard the aircraft. It was the second fatal air crash for UPS Airlines.
Flagship Airlines Flight 3379 was a scheduled flight under the American Eagle branding from Piedmont Triad International Airport to Raleigh–Durham International Airport during which a British Aerospace Jetstream crashed while executing a missed approach to the Raleigh–Durham International Airport on the evening of Tuesday, December 13, 1994. The two pilots and 13 passengers died in the crash; five passengers survived with serious injuries.
On September 23, 1985, Henson Airlines Flight 1517 crashed in Grottoes, Virginia, while on approach to the Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport. The two pilots and twelve passengers were killed.
Christopher A. Hart is an American lawyer, government official, and pilot. He served as the 13th chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board. He served as Acting NTSB Chairman beginning April 26, 2014, and in June 2014 was nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as Chairman of the NTSB. He was confirmed to serve as chairman on February 5, 2015. Robert Sumwalt succeeded him as chairman in August 2017.
On July 7, 2017, an Airbus A320-211 operating as Air Canada Flight 759 was nearly involved in an accident at San Francisco International Airport in San Mateo County, California, United States. The flight, which originated at Toronto Pearson International Airport, had been cleared by air traffic control to land on runway 28R and was on final approach to land on that runway; however, instead of lining up with the runway, the aircraft had lined up with the parallel taxiway, on which four fully loaded and fueled passenger airplanes were stopped awaiting takeoff clearance. The flight crew initiated a go-around prior to landing, after which it landed without further incident. The aircraft on the taxiway departed for their intended destinations without further incident. The subsequent investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the Air Canada airplane descended to 59 feet (18 m) above the ground before it began its climb, and that it missed colliding with one of the aircraft on the taxiway by 14 feet (4.3 m).
Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 901, was a scheduled international flight operated by the Scandinavian Airlines System, that overran the runway at its destination at John F. Kennedy International Airport on February 28, 1984. The flight, using a McDonnell Douglas DC-10, originated at Stockholm Arlanda Airport, Sweden, before a stopover at Oslo Airport, Gardermoen, Norway. All 177 passengers and crew members on board survived, although 12 were injured. The runway overshoot was due to the crew's failure to monitor their airspeed and overreliance on the aircraft's autothrottle.
Evergreen International Airlines Flight 17 (4U17/EIA17) was a cargo flight operated by Evergreen International Airlines and flown by a McDonnell Douglas DC-9. On March 18, 1989, the flight's planned route was scheduled to take it from Kelly Air Force Base to Tinker Air Force Base, with a stop at Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas. The two pilots were the only occupants on board. Immediately after takeoff from Carswell, the aircraft's main cargo door opened, the crew lost control of the aircraft and it subsequently crashed while attempting an emergency landing, killing both pilots.
Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 46E was a scheduled cargo flight on 31 March 1993, operated by Evergreen International Airlines, on behalf of Japan Air Lines, from Anchorage International Airport, in Anchorage, Alaska, to O'Hare International Airport, in Chicago. After departure, while climbing through 2,000 feet, the pylon for engine two detached, causing the whole engine to fall off the wing. The pilots managed to land the 747 back at Anchorage without further incident.
