What does the NTSB do?

What does the NTSB do?

• A. Investigates accidents to determine why accidents happen and try to prevent those accidents.
• B. Inspects pilot credentials.
• C. Regulates airspace.
• D. Operates flight control systems.

Answer: (A)

The NTSB’s job is to investigate transportation accidents to determine why they happened and to issue safety recommendations to prevent similar incidents in the future. Investigations look at all factors—human performance, equipment, maintenance, and environment—and the goal is to improve overall safety, not regulate operations. Regulating airspace is the job of the FAA, inspecting pilot credentials is also an FAA-like regulatory function, and operating flight control systems is the responsibility of pilots and aircraft systems, not the NTSB. So focusing on uncovering causes and promoting safeguards to prevent recurrences best describes what the NTSB does.

The NTSB’s job is to investigate transportation accidents to determine why they happened and to issue safety recommendations to prevent similar incidents in the future. Investigations look at all factors—human performance, equipment, maintenance, and environment—and the goal is to improve overall safety, not regulate operations. Regulating airspace is the job of the FAA, inspecting pilot credentials is also an FAA-like regulatory function, and operating flight control systems is the responsibility of pilots and aircraft systems, not the NTSB. So focusing on uncovering causes and promoting safeguards to prevent recurrences best describes what the NTSB does.