The National Transportation Safety Board has introduced a secure online portal for pilots to submit data in support of aviation accidents and incidents investigated by the agency.
Previously, pilots were required to download a lengthy, fillable PDF and email that form back to the agency.
Now pilots can submit NTSB Form 6120.1 on a phone or computer directly on the NTSB website, “providing a user-friendly option that also ends the need for investigators to manually input the information,” NTSB officials said.
Federal regulations have long required the pilot-in-command or operator of an aircraft with an FAA-issued registration number to report an accident to the NTSB “immediately and by the most expeditious means available.”
After an initial report is made by calling the NTSB’s 24-hour Response Operations Center at 844-373-9922, an investigator will determine whether the NTSB will investigate. In those cases when an investigation is opened, the pilot and/or operator will complete NTSB Form 6120.1. On average, the NTSB receives nearly 1,000 of these reports each year.
The new digital form was designed to be both convenient and secure, allowing pilots to save changes before submitting the form and to check on the status of their submission directly on the NTSB website, agency officials noted.
More information and resources related to the new online NTSB Form 6120.1 are available on NTSB.gov at Report an Accident to the NTSB.