Major NTSB investigations, VI

180,611 investigations by the National Transportation Safety Board since 1962: 174,590 accidents, the rest incidents and other occurrences. Each has NTSB’s narrative and, once the investigation is done, its probable cause; since 2008, its findings and sequence of events.

Defining event

Finding

Phase of flight

Aircraft model

Cases per year

19692026

Major NTSB investigations, VI per year, 1969–2026: 5 cases
1969	1
1970	1
1976	1
1978	1
1979	1

Latest cases

Query with SQL

SELECT c."ntsbNumber", c."eventDate", c."eventType", c."eventCity", c."eventStateOrRegion", a.n_number, a."aircraftMake", a."aircraftModel", c."highestInjuryLevel", c."totalFatal", c."completionStatus", c.report_url FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_case_detail.parquet' c LEFT JOIN 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_aircrafts.parquet' a ON a.case_mkey = c."mKey" AND a.position = 1 WHERE c."eventStateOrRegion" = 'VI' AND c."eventCountry" = 'USA' AND (c.board_report_url IS NOT NULL OR c."investigationClass" = 'Class 1' OR c."caseType" = 'Major - Launch') ORDER BY c."eventDate" DESC, c."ntsbNumber" DESC

duckdb -csv -c "SELECT c.\"ntsbNumber\", c.\"eventDate\", c.\"eventType\", c.\"eventCity\", c.\"eventStateOrRegion\", a.n_number, a.\"aircraftMake\", a.\"aircraftModel\", c.\"highestInjuryLevel\", c.\"totalFatal\", c.\"completionStatus\", c.report_url
  FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_case_detail.parquet' c LEFT JOIN 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_aircrafts.parquet' a ON a.case_mkey = c.\"mKey\" AND a.position = 1
  WHERE c.\"eventStateOrRegion\" = 'VI' AND c.\"eventCountry\" = 'USA'
    AND (c.board_report_url IS NOT NULL OR c.\"investigationClass\" = 'Class 1' OR c.\"caseType\" = 'Major - Launch')
  ORDER BY c.\"eventDate\" DESC, c.\"ntsbNumber\" DESC"

Prints the whole list as CSV. It reads the release’s Parquet files over HTTPS, so there’s nothing to download first. Install DuckDB to run it.

SELECT c."ntsbNumber", c."eventDate", c."eventType", c."eventCity", c."eventStateOrRegion", a.n_number, a."aircraftMake", a."aircraftModel", c."highestInjuryLevel", c."totalFatal", c."completionStatus", c.report_url
FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_case_detail.parquet' c LEFT JOIN 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_aircrafts.parquet' a ON a.case_mkey = c."mKey" AND a.position = 1
WHERE c."eventStateOrRegion" = 'VI' AND c."eventCountry" = 'USA'
  AND (c.board_report_url IS NOT NULL OR c."investigationClass" = 'Class 1' OR c."caseType" = 'Major - Launch')
ORDER BY c."eventDate" DESC, c."ntsbNumber" DESC

Run it at the DuckDB prompt, or in any tool that reads Parquet over HTTPS. More ways to query the release are on Use the data.

NTSB DCA79AA020Accident · 8 fatalClosedDehavilland DH-114 · St Croix, VIJul 24, 1979 · N575PR · Destroyed NTSB DCA78AA021Accident · 4 fatalClosedGrumman G-21A · St Thomas, VISep 2, 1978 · N7777V · Destroyed NTSB DCA76AZ025Accident · 37 fatalClosedBoeing 727 · St.Thomas, VIApr 27, 1976 · N1963 · Destroyed NTSB DCA70AZ007Accident · 23 fatalClosedDouglas DC-9 · St.Croix, VIMay 2, 1970 · N935F · Destroyed NTSB DCA70A0003Accident · Minor injuriesClosedDouglas DC-9 · St Thomas, VIAug 12, 1969 · N938PR · Substantial damage