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Photo from NTSB X pageAs we enter the final weeks of 2023, the NTSB announced the end of the Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements after 33 years. The NTSB shared the news on Thursday, marking the end of an ongoing list that had been the focus of safety advocacy efforts for decades.
The MWL was created in 1990 to improve safety in different areas of the industry for all modes of transport. Some of the improvements included positive train control, fuel tank safety and recreational boating. The list also included occupant protection, including child passenger safety laws. This covered crashworthiness improvements across all modes of transport, including adopting crash-resistant fuel tanks in helicopters. The list included seat belt laws, requiring every occupant in all vehicles equipped with a safety belt to use them.
Through the MWL, the NTSB recommended areas of safety improvement like human fatigue, runway safety, alcohol and drug impairment, the shipment of hazardous materials, rail tank car safety and pipeline leak detection and mitigation. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy shared that the agency was leaving the list behind and looking for more modern ways to promote safety advocacy in transportation. The MWL was made in an age before social media and the quick access to information society has grown accustomed to. Now, without the formality of the MWL, the NTSB can find new ways to promote its safety recommendations.
"The Most Wanted List has served the NTSB well as an advocacy tool, especially in the days before social media, but our advocacy efforts must advance,'' Homendy said. "Freed from the structure of a formal list, the NTSB can more nimbly advocate for our recommendations and emerging safety issues."RELATED STORIES:FAA follows NTSB recommendation, proposes requiring 25-hour cockpit voice recordersFAA proposes CVR recording extension, response to NTSB 'Most Wanted' list of recommendationsFAA's new rule requires SMS program implementation at over 200 airportsFAA proposes mandated SMS program, public feedback requested
Over the last couple of years, the list has included several recommendations pertaining to the aviation industry. Last year's list included two aviation recommendations, to require and verify the effectiveness of Safety Management Systems in all revenue passenger-carrying operations and to install crash-resistant recorders and to establish flight data monitoring programs. Since the FAA does not mandate that aircraft operators install these recorders, "citing privacy, security cost and other concerns," the NTSB calls for the use of cockpit image records to help determine crew actions during crashes. Commercial airliners are required to have flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorders, which have changed this year as well. The NTSB feels that installing the image recording devices would help investigators "solve accidents" and help to prevent crashes in the first place by allowing for more regular crew evaluation.
The NTSB also called for the establishment of SMS programs to address safety policy, safety risk management, safety assurance and safety promotion. The FAA required commercial airliners to develop a SMS to improve safety in 2015, but the FAA did not require passenger-carrying operators to have one. This year, the FAA proposed a rule in January to require charter, commuter and air tour operators, and aircraft manufacturers. Homendy showed support for the proposed rule on X (formerly Twitter), saying the NTSB applauded the FAA for the major step forward in aviation safety. In February the FAA implemented a new rule to require certain airports to develop a SMS, applicable to 200 of the busiest commercial airports in the country. By April, the NBAA commented on the January ruling, claiming that it missed the mark. The NBAA said the rule had a lack of scalability and flexibility, specifically for small operators. As the industry faced a spike in runway incursions this year, the FAA included the rollout of SMS programs across the country in the continued effort to improve safety.
This year, the FAA has also acted on the NTSB's recommendation to extend the required CVR recording time from two hours to 25. After the March Safety Summit, the FAA announced its intent to improve safety through recommendations from the MWL. For years, the NTSB has said that the two-hour limit is a hindrance for investigators as they often run into trouble when the recording needed for a crash/incident investigation has been overwritten. After a runway incursion in January at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) where the CVR data was overwritten, the NTSB issued a subpoena after one of the flight crew's refused recorded interviews. The agency released a statement, sharing that these interviews are imperative to the process, and citing the 2018 recommendation to extend the required recording time.
The FAA responded, stating it would take these recommendations seriously. On Nov. 30 the FAA announced its proposal to extend the requirement for cockpit voice recording equipment from two hours to 25 for all newly manufactured aircraft. This ruling applies to aircraft operating as Parts 91, 121, 125 and 135 and will take effect one year after the final ruling.NTSB Most Wanted List recommendations in 1990
Other recommendations over the years include the improvement of safety in Part 135 aircraft flight operations and prevent loss of control in flight in general aviation. Enhance public helicopter safety, address unique characteristics of helicopter operations, identify and communicate hazardous weather in general aviation, improve safety of airport surface operations, runway safety, pilot and air traffic controller professionalism, improve safety of EMS flights, reduce dangers to aircraft flying in icing conditions, improve oversight of pilot proficiency, reduce accidents caused by human fatigue, eliminate flammable fuel/air vapors in transport aircraft, stop runway incursions/ground collisions and addressing airframe structural icing. In the first year, 1990, the aviation recommendations included ground proximity warning systems in commuter aircraft, mode C intruder alert in terminal areas, aircraft structural fatigue testing, brake wear limits and performance in transport aircraft, and runway incursion/ground collision of aircraft.
Over the last 33 years, the list has made vast improvements across all forms of transportation. The NTSB will continue to advocate for safety but now with the advantages of modern technology and social media.