Five Reportable Incidents Added To Notification Requirements

The NTSB is amending its regulations concerning notification and reporting requirements regarding aircraft accidents or incidents. In particular, the NTSB is adding regulations to require operators to report certain incidents to the NTSB. The NTSB is also amending existing regulations to provide clarity and ensure that the appropriate means for notifying the NTSB of a reportable incident is listed correctly in the regulation.

On October 7, 2008, the NTSB published an NPRM titled "Notification and Reporting of Aircraft Accidents or Incidents and Overdue Aircraft, and preservation of Aircraft Wreckage, Mail, Cargo, and Records" in the Federal Register. This NPRM proposed, and the final rule codifies the addition of five reportable incidents, the reporting of which the NTSB believes will improve aviation safety.

The operator of any civil aircraft, or any public aircraft not operated by the Armed Forces or an intelligence agency of the United States, or any foreign aircraft shall immediately, and by the most expeditious means available, notify the nearest National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) office when an aircraft accident or any of the following listed serious incidents occur:

• Failure of any internal turbine engine component that results in the escape of debris other than out the exhaust path.
• In-flight fire.
• Aircraft collision in flight.
• Release of all or a portion of a propeller blade from an aircraft, excluding release caused solely by ground contact.
• A complete loss of information, excluding flickering, from more than 50 percent of an aircraft's cockpit displays known as Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS) displays, Engine Indication and Crew Alerting system (EICAS) displays, Electronic Centralized Aircraft Monitor (ECAM) displays, or other displays of this type, which generally include a primary flight display (PFD), primary navigation display (PND), and other integrated displays.
• Airborne Collision and Avoidance System (ACAS) resolution advisories issued either when an aircraft is being operated on an instrument flight rules flight plan and compliance with the advisory is necessary to avert a substantial risk of collision between two or more aircraft, or to an aircraft operating in class A airspace.
• Damage to helicopter tail or main rotor blades, including ground damage, that requires major repair or replacement of the blade(s).
• Any event in which an aircraft operated by an air carrier lands or departs on a taxiway, incorrect runway, or other area not designed as a runway, or experiences a runway incursion that requires the operator or the crew of another aircraft or vehicle to take immediate corrective
• action to avoid a collision.

The final rule was published in the Federal Register January 7th, and the revisions and additions published in this final rule become effective March 8, 2010.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov