NTSB Updates Accident Reporting System

In ground school pilots learn about 49 CFR Part 830, which defines an aircraft accident versus an incident, and spells out the notification and reporting of accidents and incidents and overdue aircraft, and preservation of aircraft wreckage, mail, cargo, and records. 

Reporting an accident or incident used to involve downloading a lengthy, fillable PDF (NTSB Form 6120.1), answering lots of questions about the circumstances surrounding the event, supplying a written narrative along with the names and qualification of the pilot or pilots, then emailing the form back to the agency. This information was then manually put into the system by NTSB investigators.

According to the NTSB, as pilots and aircraft operators can now submit this information by phone or computer directly on the NTSB website it will eliminate the need for investigators to manually input the information.

"The new digital form was designed to be both convenient and secure," the agency stated in a media release, "allowing pilots and operators to save changes before submitting the form and to check on the status of their submission directly on the NTSB website."

According to the NTSB, after an initial report is made to the NTSB 24-hour Response Operations Center (844-373-9922), the NTSB will determine whether the agency needs to follow up with an investigation. If an investigation is opened, the pilot and or operator of the aircraft will need to complete NTSB Form 6120.1. According to the agency, which has the mission of making sure all transportation is safe, it receives nearly 1,000 of these reports each year.