Category: NTSB

Federal Agency Says All Cars Need Alcohol Detectors and a New Law May Soon Require Them

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said that all new vehicles need alcohol detection devices that can stop motorists from driving while drunk. The NTSB said it is urging the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to implement “measures leveraging new in-vehicle technologies that can limit or prohibit impaired drivers from operating their vehicles as well as technologies…


NTSB Calls for All New Vehicles to Be Fitted With ‘Alcohol Impairment Detection Systems’

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recommended that “alcohol impairment detection systems” be fitted into all new vehicles in the United States to prevent an intoxicated person from getting behind the wheel. The recommendation comes following an investigation into a crash near Avenal, California on Jan. 1, 2021, that killed nine people, including seven children. Investigators found that…


4 Killed in Helicopter Crash on Hawaii Island of Kauai

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it is investigating the crash of a Sikorsky S-61N helicopter on Feb. 22 that left four people dead. Four people were killed after the helicopter crashed during a training operation on the Hawaii island of Kauai, officials confirmed. The incident occurred at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF), which is the…


NTSB Issues Safety Alert to Subways, Rail Over Wheel Defect

The National Transportation Safety Board on Wednesday issued a safety alert to subway systems and commuter railroads over a wheelset problem that led to a derailment in the nation’s capital, saying the defect is difficult to detect and potentially devastating. The investigative agency released a preliminary report of its ongoing probe into the Oct. 12…


NTSB: Driver Was Behind Wheel at Time of Texas Tesla Crash

DETROIT—A driver was behind the wheel when a Tesla electric car crashed and burned last April near Houston, killing two men, neither of whom was found in the driver’s seat. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board announced the findings in an investigative report update released Thursday on the April 17 crash on a residential road…


US NTSB to Probe Fatal Tesla Crash in Florida

WASHINGTON—The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Friday it will send a team to investigate a Tesla vehicle crash this week that killed two people in Coral Gables, Florida. Coral Gables police have said it is unclear whether the Tesla Model 3 involved in the crash in a residential area on Monday evening…


NTSB: Pilot Error Likely Caused Vintage Bomber’s Fatal Crash

HARTFORD—Pilot error probably caused the 2019 crash of a World War II-era bomber in Connecticut that killed seven people and wounded six others, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a report released Tuesday. It cited inadequate maintenance as a contributing factor. The four-engine, propeller-driven B-17G Flying Fortress bomber with 13 people aboard crashed at…


Damage to United Boeing 777 Engine Consistent With Metal Fatigue: NTSB

The Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engine failed on Saturday with a “loud bang” four minutes after takeoff from Denver, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Robert Sumwalt told reporters following an initial analysis of the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder. There was minor damage to the aircraft body but no structural damage, he…


Investigators Release Early Results of Probe Into Exploding Engine on United Flight

A federal agency in charge of travel safety said Sunday preliminary findings of a probe into the engine that exploded last week revealed two fan blades were fractured. A Pratt & Whitney PW4077 engine on a United Airlines-owned Boing 777-200 exploded shortly after the plane took off Saturday from Denver International Airport. Pilots were able to…