Research
The whole record, reshaped by a question.
Every count below is the Board's own coding across the cases in scope — findings, occurrences, phases, recommendations, the evidence held. Click any bar to make it the filter. No fleet-exposure data exists here, so these are cases, never rates.
AircraftAllBoeing / McDonnell DouglasAirbusEmbraerBombardier / De HavillandBellSikorskyRobinsonCessnaPiperBeechcraft
OccurrenceAllTurbulence encounterCollision with terr/obj (non-CFIT) Loss of control in flightGround collisionFire/smoke (non-impact)Cabin safety eventPowerplant sys/comp malf/failSys/Comp malf/fail (non-power)TailstrikeControlled flight into terr/obj (CFIT)Air traffic eventRunway excursion
Showing 6 cases · Sikorsky
6
cases in this slice
3
fatal accidents
27
lives lost
6
with a probable cause
2
with coded findings
24
safety recommendations
The record over time
cases per year by cohort, and the lives lost — click a year to focus on itCases per year
Major investigationPart 121 airlinePart 135 fatal
Fatalities per year
Fatalities
Why accidents happen
2 coded casesthe Board's findings taxonomy — causal findings in the probable cause, contributing factors beside them; occurrences and the phase of flight the defining event sat inPersonnel issues2 cases · 6 causal · 1 contributing
- Task performance — Use of equip/info2
- Psychological — Perception/orientation/illusion, Personality/attitude2
- Action/decision — Info processing/decision1
Organizational issues2 cases · 3 causal · 0 contributing
- Support/oversight/monitoring — Safety programs, Enforcement2
- Development — Design1
Environmental issues2 cases · 2 causal · 1 contributing
- Operating environment — 1
- Conditions/weather/phenomena — Ceiling/visibility/precip1
- Physical environment — Object/animal/substance1
Aircraft2 cases · 2 causal · 2 contributing
- Aircraft systems — Auto flight system2
- Aircraft structures — Windows-windshield system1
Solid = cited in the probable cause · outlined = contributing factor · hover a row for the most-cited specifics.
Occurrences coded
- VFR encounter with IMC · 1 defining1
- Birdstrike · 1 defining1
Phase of flight of the defining event
- Enroute2
Aircraft and operators
by manufacturer family and operating rule — counts of cases, with no fleet-size denominator, so a busy family simply flies moreWhat changed because of them
24 recommendations · 2 opensafety recommendations issued from these cases, by the NTSB's status of the response- Closed · acceptable 11
- Closed · unacceptable 10
- Closed · superseded or reconsidered 1
- Open · acceptable response 2
Issued per year
Recommendations
Reiterated most often
- A-21-005reiterated ×1Open - Acceptable Response
TO THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: Require the use of appropriate simulation devices during initial and recurrent pilot training for Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 helicopter operations to provide sce…
- A-21-006reiterated ×1Closed - Acceptable Action
TO THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: Convene a multidisciplinary panel of aircraft performance, human factors, and aircraft operations specialists to evaluate spatial disorientation simulation technologies to determin…
- A-06-023reiterated ×1Closed - Acceptable Action
TO THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: Require all operators of aircraft equipped with a cockpit voice recorder (CVR) to (1) test the functionality of the CVR before the first flight of each day as part of an approved …
Evidence held
what the corpus can show for this slice, year by year — a docket, decoded flight data, a transcript, photographs, controller audioWhat the record says for this slice
a pattern, not a findingthe causal findings the Board cited most often across the 2 coded cases here- Task performance › Use of equip/info · Personnel issues · 100%2 cases
- Psychological › Perception/orientation/illusion · Personnel issues · 100%2 cases
- Support/oversight/monitoring › Safety programs · Organizational issues · 50%1 cases
- Conditions/weather/phenomena › Ceiling/visibility/precip · Environmental issues · 50%1 cases
- Action/decision › Info processing/decision · Personnel issues · 50%1 cases
- Psychological › Personality/attitude · Personnel issues · 50%1 cases
- Support/oversight/monitoring › Enforcement · Organizational issues · 50%1 cases
- Physical environment › Object/animal/substance · Environmental issues · 50%1 cases
- Aircraft systems › Auto flight system · Aircraft · 50%1 cases
- Development › Design · Organizational issues · 50%1 cases
- Aircraft structures › Windows-windshield system · Aircraft · 50%1 cases
The cases
6 of 6newest first — open any case for its recorders, transcript, photographs and analyst| Date | Case | Aircraft | Operator | Where | Outcome | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-01-26 | DCA20MA059 Major investigation | Sikorsky S76 | Island Express | Calabasas, CA | Fatal · 9 | 53 docs |
| 2009-01-04 | CEN09MA117 Major investigation | SIKORSKY S-76C | PHI INC | Morgan City, LA | Fatal · 8 | 29 docs · FDR tables |
| 2005-09-06 | DFW05MA230 Major investigation | SIKORSKY S76 | Houston Helicopters, Inc. | Gulf of Mexico, TX | Serious injury | no docket |
| 2005-06-17 | IAD05MA078 Major investigation | Sikorsky S-76C | New York, NY | Serious injury | no docket | |
| 2004-03-23 | DCA04MA030 Major investigation | Sikorsky S76A++ | ERA Aviation, Inc. | Gulf of Mexico | Fatal · 10 | 1 docs · recorder reports |
| 2001-03-20 | FTW01LA081 Part 135 fatal | Sikorsky SK-76A | EC 270 | Fatal | no docket |