NTSB letter to Senate says lapse in funding could impact ongoing investigations

The NTSB talked about the potential impact a government shutdown would have on operations, including ongoing investigations. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy wrote a letter to the Chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, voicing concerns that a shutdown would inhibit the over 1,200 open investigations, including the recent inflight incident on a Boeing 737 MAX 9, and the response to future incidents. Homendy noted that there are currently 1,254 open investigations, including major investigations into each mode of transportation. These open investigations include the recent incident on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 where a door plug on a Boeing 737 MAX 9 was blown off 10 minutes into the flight at about 16,000 feet, as well as the investigation into the Norfolk Southern Railway train derailment with hazardous material release and fires. A government shutdown would impact the agency and ongoing investigations.RELATED STORIES:Boeing CEO admits 'mistake' as FAA launches safety probe Latest on 737 MAX 9 Alaska Airlines emergency - aircraft had prior issues before panel ripped off mid-flightThe letter said that the NTSB has a Contingency Plan for Lapse in Appropriations, which was developed based on budget guidance from the Department of Justice and Office of Management. The plan was issued on April 8, 2011 and reissued on Sept. 30, 2015. It was again revised and reissued on Sept. 21, 2023 and is due for review again by Sept. 20, 2028. The plan estimates a half-day is required to complete the shutdown activities. The total number of employees expected to be on board before the plan is implemented is 434 and the number expected to be furloughed under the plan is 408. Four employees will be retained to perform activities expressly authorized by law and four to perform activities necessarily implied by law. There will be 26 employees retained as necessary to protect life and property. The NTSB, an independent federal agency, investigates transportation accidents across the country, including in aviation, railroad, transit, highway, marine, pipeline and the commercial space. Through the investigations, the agency will determine a cause and issue necessary recommendations to prevent a future occurrence. The NTSB will also conduct safety research studies and offer information and assistance to family members and survivors of each accident investigated. The agency serves as the appellate authority for enforcement actions involving aviation and mariner certificates issued by the FAA and the U.S. Coast Guard, adjudicating appeals of civil penalty actions taken by the FAA. In the contingency plan, some agency activities will continue while others will cease. During a lapse, activities that protect life and property or very specific investigative work would continue. The plan notes that launches to accidents and events required to protect and preserve critical evidence to determine risk to human life, limited activities required to preserve property related to accidents, and ongoing investigation and report production activities that are required to prevent risk to human life which would remain if the NTSB failed to act urgently. Other activities, like conferences or meetings, hiring of personnel, awarding of contracts, training classes or activities, authorizing overtime and traveling will cease during a lapse. In the letter, Homendy said that a lapse in funding would hinder the ability to begin, continue and complete accident and incident investigations and issue timely recommendations, like those relating to the Flight 1282 incident. "The effect could be a temporary delay in investigations under a short shutdown, or it could preclude entire investigations depending on the length of the lapse, the volume and complexity of investigations that needed to be performed during a lapse, and the perishability of the evidence required to conduct investigations," Homendy said in the letter. A lapse could potentially prevent the issuance of relevant safety recommendations as investigations may be forgotten or forgone. Other important work, like supporting families of victims, safety studies and advocacy efforts would be delayed or canceled depending on the timing and length of the shutdown. The hiring of essential personnel and the attempt to bring on new staff to fill crucial vacancies would also be on hold.Read the letter Homendy wrote to Chair Maria Cantwell Homeny asks for consideration of these concerns as Congress continues to debate the funding for 2024 and the FAA authorization. She also asks for support of the NTSB's budget request of $145 million to improve transportation safety through investigations and so recommendations are fully effectuated. The letter states that over 70 percent of the agency's funding is used to fund the employee payroll and benefits, which will increase in 2024 due to an increase in staffing. Homendy said that the NTSB has historically used very little discretionary funding to spend on an annual basis. "Given the well-deserved 5.2 percent federal employee pay raise and an increase of 5 percent in the agency's share of employee health benefits, the NTSB's mission will be greatly impacted if we must continue to operate indefinitely, or under a full-year continuing resolution, at our fiscal year 2023 funding level of $129.3 million," the letter said. A full-year continuing resolution would be a significant budget cut, impacting the agency in many ways. A full-year CR would require that the NYTSB stop its efforts to increase staffing. This means that the agency would need to implement a hiring freeze and reduce current staffing levels through a reduction in force actions and/or by not backfilling the previously departed positions. This could stop the progress made to the right-size staffing levels necessary to close investigations in a timely manner and further the agency's critical safety mission. The NTSB would be unable to modernize or upgrade current critical information technology systems needed to replace the outdated legacy system and meet the current cybersecurity mandates. The NSTB would be forced to cut discretionary spending on employee training, negatively impacting the overall mission outcomes, including the ability to conduct thorough and timely investigations using emerging technologies. If the agency saw higher than normal mission activity, then normal operations would also be impacted.RELATED STORIES:Short-term funding bill extends FAA authorizationSecond short-term extension for FAA authorization introduced As a potential shutdown loomed, the FAA authorization was extended through Dec. 31, 2023. Debates continued for weeks and by mid-December, a second short-term extension was granted for the FAA, extending authorization through March 8, 2024. The NTSB letter stresses the importance of full funding and FAA authorization to maintain safety across the industry. As the public scrutinizes the highly publicized incidents in 2023, like runway incursions and off-duty pilots trying to turn off the plane engines mid-flight, 2024 was off to a rocky start with the Alaska Airlines incident. The FAA grounded all 737-9 aircraft and is undergoing an investigation into Boeing. The NTSB letter stresses the importance of maintaining appropriations like funding and proper authorization to continue investigating incidents like Flight 1282.