By Stephanie Matonek, NTSB Transportation Disaster Assistance Specialist
Today, the third International Day Commemorating Air Crash Victims and their Families, we join with survivors in remembering those they have lost.
Three years ago, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), in cooperation with the Air Crash Victims’ Families’ Federation International (ACVFFI), designated February 20 the International Day Commemorating Air Crash Victims and Their Families. This observance was established to ensure we never forget about the victims and their families, or the unimaginable journey these families faced in the aftermath of an aviation disaster.
In the United States, the NTSB’s Family Assistance program was established in part by the tireless efforts of survivors and family members advocating for change after experiencing loss and suffering from aviation disasters in the 80s and early 90s. Today, the NTSB’s Transportation Disaster Assistance (TDA) team continues this important work to ensure survivors and families are provided information, resources, and support after a disaster, no matter what mode of transportation it occurs in. Yet the TDA team that is responsible for this program cannot do this work alone. Over the decades since the NTSB’s family assistance program began, the partnerships we have made with organizations and agencies from around the world and involved in providing family assistance after transportation disasters have become an integral part of our existence. In fact, our team today is continuously reminded how important and valuable these partnerships are to ensuring we meet the fundamental needs of survivors and families when tragedy strikes.
One partnership in particular has been vital to the NTSB’s family assistance program since its inception: the American Red Cross. At the request of the TDA team, the Red Cross provides direct care and support to hundreds of families and survivors yearly. These efforts can be seen during NTSB public events, through direct requests by those TDA assists, and on-scene at accidents that NTSB investigates.
Today we remember each and every air crash victim we have lost, and their families. And we extend our appreciation to our family assistance partners that help us ensure that those who are affected most, survivors and families, get the care and support they need, no matter where or when a disaster occurs.
By Elias Kontanis, Chief, Transportation Disaster Assistance Division
Last year, for the first time, the international aviation community observed February 20th as the International Day Commemorating Air Crash Victims and Families. This year, on the second annual observance, we join in reflecting on the lives lost in aviation accidents as well as on the vigilance needed to ensure safety remains the priority in aviation.
As important as it is to commemorate, it is imperative that we also commit—commit to ensuring our programs effectively address the concerns of accident survivors and families and provide the information and support needed after tragedy happens.
The NTSB conducts its investigations with the goal of preventing future accidents. We do this work so that no other families must experience the painful loss or injury of loved ones due to transportation accidents. Our objective is, first and foremost, accident prevention. We maintain a steadfast commitment to this because we believe that the only acceptable number of deaths and serious injuries in all modes of transportation is zero.
With our commitment to transportation safety, we also have a commitment to support families by offering information about the NTSB’s investigative process, addressing their questions about the specific accident investigation involving their loved ones, and offering information about other services that may be available. The NTSB’s family assistance team does this every day, not only for aviation accidents but for all transportation accidents involving fatalities investigated by the NTSB. In 2022, our seven-member team provided support for 868 investigations, interacting with 3,480 accident survivors and family members.
The NTSB’s commitment to supporting transportation accident survivors and their family members is long-standing, spanning over 25 years. In that time, we have established some basic yet enduring principles:
An independent and transparent safety investigation, with a focus on enhancing safety and not assigning blame or liability, is essential to the success of family assistance. Transparency and honesty fosters confidence.
Rapport and credibility must be established with family members by communicating realistic expectations about the investigation and other aspects of the response. This includes clearly and appropriately communicating limits to the information and services available.
A well-designed family assistance plan should be flexible and scalable. Rigid constructs break when they encounter an unanticipated force, but when the plan is flexible, it will bend and spring back to its original form when a stressor is applied.
The entity responsible for coordinating the response should use a unified command concept of operations, enabling organizations to work together without giving up authority, responsibility, or accountability.
A comprehensive response requires collaboration from multiple government agencies and nongovernmental organizations. Participating entities should focus on the fundamental concerns of families within the boundaries of their mandate and capabilities.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has spearheaded several initiatives to promote these principles among contracting states (that is, countries) by developing a 3-day course designed to provide governments, aircraft and airport operators, and other stakeholders the foundational knowledge to develop family assistance plans. Most recently, the European Civil Aviation Conference and the ICAO European and North Atlantic Regional Office have also jointly organized a workshop on assistance to aircraft accident victims and their families, which is scheduled for February 20, 2023, in Milan, Italy. This workshop will bring together representatives from several countries, family associations, and other stakeholders to share best practices.
Family assistance needs to be an organizational priority, ingrained in the culture and mindset of an entity engaging in this work. More than regulations, policies, standard operating procedures, or checklists, family assistance is about listening to and learning from those affected by disaster. Ultimately, family assistance is about caring for our fellow human beings and treating them with dignity and compassion, the same way we would expect to be treated when faced with an unexpected injury or loss of a loved one.
We stand with our international colleagues in honor of this solemn day, commemorating the lives lost and the families who faced such unimaginable tragedy, and we will not forget our commitments to them in the work we do.
By Elias Kontanis, Chief, NTSB Transportation Disaster Assistance Division
This year, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) designated February 20 the International Day Commemorating Air Crash Victims and Families. Although ICAO has addressed various aspects of family assistance for decades, this is the first time a day has been set aside to remember and honor all who lost their lives in air disasters and their families.
ICAO’s interest in family assistance dates to 1976, with the inclusion of a recommended practice in Annex 13, the document that outlines standards and recommended practices for accident investigations. The following is a brief timeline of significant ICAO activities related to family assistance.
1976: Contracting States (that is, countries) whose citizens are involved in a crash are granted access to information about the crash investigation and play a direct role in identifying their citizens. This recommended practice was strengthened to a standard in 2001.
1998: The ICAO Assembly acknowledges that “the policy of the ICAO should be to ensure that the mental, physical and spiritual well-being of victims involved in civil aviation accidents and their families are considered and accommodated by ICAO and its Contracting States.”[1]
2001: In response to Assembly Resolution A32-7, ICAO issues Circ 285, “Guidance on Assistance to Aircraft Accident Victims and their Families,” a keystone document for countries interested in developing family assistance programs. Circ 285 provides guidance on the various aspects of a comprehensive family assistance operation.
2005: Provisions are included in Annex 9, “Facilitation,” to enable victims’ family members to expeditiously enter the State in which the accident occurred. Additional provisions address repatriation of remains and emergency travel documents for family members and accident survivors.
2013: ICAO issues Doc 9998, “ICAO Policy on Assistance to Aircraft Accident Victims and Their Families,” and Doc 9973, “Manual on Assistance to Aircraft Accident Victims and Their Families.”
2015: Annex 9 is further amended with Recommended Practice 8.46, which encourages Contracting States to establish legislation, regulations, and/or policies in support of assistance to aircraft accident victims and their families.
2021: ICAO convenes its first International Symposium on Assistance to Aircraft Accident Victims and Their Families. This 3-day event, hosted by the governments of Spain and the Canary Islands, provides an opportunity for participants to share best practices and lessons learned to support the development of family assistance programs. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy and I were honored to participate as guest speakers at this important event.
2021: ICAO’s Global Aviation Training Section begins developing a 3-day course designed to provide Contracting States, as well as aircraft and airport operators, the foundational knowledge to develop family assistance plans. The NTSB is a proud partner in this effort.
2021: ICAO proposes elevating Recommended Practice 8.46 to a standard and developing a new recommended practice encouraging aircraft and airport operators to develop family assistance plans. Again, the United States stands with a significant number of other States in support of this initiative.
Through the Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act of 1996, the United States committed to addressing the needs of passengers’ families following an aviation disaster. This commitment continues to grow. Today, the NTSB is the lead federal agency responsible for coordinating federal resources to support the families of air crash victims, as well as the victims of any other transportation disaster the NTSB investigates.
As family assistance specialists, my team and I work every day with the families of those lost in transportation crashes, trying to shed what light we can during some of their darkest days. We provide information during a time of uncertainty, address questions, and facilitate access to services that help loved ones navigate the loss they have suffered.
We have this charge in common with family assistance specialists all around the world, and we work collaboratively with international colleagues to enhance family assistance programs worldwide. We offer representatives of ICAO Contracting States seats in our family assistance course to help them develop or enhance their family assistance programs. We deliver presentations and participate in discussion panels overseas on family assistance, and we assist ICAO in developing its 3-day family assistance course.
Over the decades, the strength of survivors and victims’ families has humbled us. We have seen them organize not only to support each other through the grieving process, but also to advocate for change to enhance transportation safety so that others never have to face the same kind of loss.
We at the NTSB stand alongside our international colleagues in honoring the International Day Commemorating Air Crash Victims and Families. No traveler likes to ponder the possibility, however remote, that a flight will crash. But, if the unthinkable happens, the NTSB and our counterparts around the globe are dedicated to supporting crash survivors and family members.
In this episode of Behind-the-Scene @NTSB, NTSB Managing Director, Sharon Bryson and Frank Hilldrup, Chief Technical Advisor for International Affairs, NTSB Office of Aviation Safety, talk about the July 17, 1996, TWA flight 800 accident. We discuss what happened, the findings and safety recommendations that came out of the investigation, its tremendous impact on aviation safety, how the Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act of 1996 led to the establishment of NTSB’s disaster assistance program, and the decommissioning of the TWA flight 800 reconstruction.
The NTSB final report for the TWA flight 800 in-flight breakup mentioned in this episode and the NTSB docket for investigation is also available on our website.
To learn more about the NTSB Transportation Disaster Assistance (TDA) Program, visit our TDA web page.
To learn more about the NTSB Most Wanted List (MWL), visit our MWL web page. You can also access the MWL archive on our website.
Information about upcoming NTSB virtual training courses are available on our Training Center web page.
I guess it all started on an overcast day in 1973, when I found myself on the scene of a fatal aviation crash for the first time. I had heard of the crash on my car radio, and, as a curious 17‑year-old, I decided to find the crash location. Once there, I saw the remains of a twin-engine airplane lodged in the bases of the surrounding pine trees. Seeing that accident scene sparked an acute interest within me for accident investigation. In college, I spent copious amounts of time in the government documents library reading NTSB aircraft accident reports. It was then, in the mid-1970s, that I began to dream of becoming an NTSB Board member. Today, as I wrap up 15 years with the agency, serving as Board member, vice chairman, and chairman, I can look back and say I have truly lived that dream.
Photo of ‘The State’ newspaper article on the 1973 plane crash
I was sworn in as the 37th member of the NTSB in August 2006. Seven days later, I found myself on the scene of another aviation disaster. Comair flight 5191, a regional jet operated as a Delta Connection, crashed just off the departure end of a runway in Lexington, Kentucky. Forty-nine lives were lost that morning after the pilots inexplicitly attempted to take off on a short, closed, unlighted runway. The investigation found that the pilots’ casual attitude during preflight and during the brief taxi, including their engaging in nonpertinent conversation, enabled the crew’s errors. Quite simply, the crew wasn’t paying attention and lost positional awareness. As a result, we issued and reiterated several recommendations to prevent that same type of accident. Today, flights are safer because airline pilots use enhanced procedures to ensure they are aligned with the proper runway before departure, and pilots have electronic maps that provide real-time position information during taxi.
Since the Comair crash, I’ve been on the NTSB Go-Team and served as the Board member on scene for 35 transportation accidents and crashes, and I’ve been involved in the deliberation and determination of probable cause of over 250 accidents and crashes. I’ve met with grieving family members and friends of victims on the worst day of their lives. Through these interactions, the one thing that really stands out to me is just how precious life really is. I’ve often said that we are here to give a voice to those who don’t have a voice—the victims of transportation accidents and their families. I take great solace knowing our work really does make a difference and keeps others from enduring similar tragedies.
Looking back, I believe there are two things that allow the NTSB to truly be one of the “Best Places to Work in the Federal Government,” as ranked by the Partnership for Public Service: the agency’s mission, and our people.
First, the agency’s mission: Congress charged the NTSB with investigating transportation accidents and crashes, determining their cause, and issuing safety recommendations to prevent similar accidents and crashes, reduce injuries, and save lives. It’s an important calling—taking something tragic and learning from it so others don’t have to endure such a tragedy. Since the NTSB was formed in 1967, we have investigated over 150,000 aviation accidents, along with thousands of highway, marine, rail, pipeline, and hazardous materials accidents and incidents. In that period, we’ve issued over 15,000 safety recommendations, the majority of which have been successfully implemented.
Our people: Even with a respectable mission, you’re nothing without great people. Fortunately, this is where the NTSB really takes the cake. We’re able to attract and retain dedicated, bright employees who love their work. We actively promote diversity and inclusion, and my hope is that the agency will continue to expand this effort. Our investigators’ passion and determination to find the truth is uplifting. Even throughout the pandemic, although working remotely, NTSB employees found ways to continue delivering our high-quality products. For example, before the pandemic, we had never conducted virtual Board meetings, where we deliberate accident findings, determine the probable cause, and adopt safety recommendations. Even with the challenges of 2020, our employees figured a way to get it done. We held 12 virtual Board meetings in a year, which compares favorably to a normal year of in-person meetings. Although I’ve always had high expectations of the NTSB workforce, I can honestly say that, considering the challenges we all faced during the pandemic, NTSB employees surpassed all expectations.
There are several other qualities that allow the NTSB to be a highly respected federal agency. One of our core values is transparency; we are open and honest with the public about our work. We realize that, when a transportation disaster occurs, the public needs to be assured that the government is conducting an open, competent, and thorough investigation. Therefore, we deliver fact-based information as we learn it. We don’t speculate—just the facts, ma’am. All NTSB Board meetings and hearings are open to the public (literally in person when not in pandemic times, and always via webcast). We post all our accident reports and publications on our website, along with the docket for each accident, which provides reams of background information such as interviews, photos, and technical information that may not be in the final accident report.
When I was sworn in for my first term at the agency in 2006, I told the audience something I had read: “Public service is one of the highest callings in the land. You have the opportunity to make a positive impact on families, communities, states, and sometimes the world.”
I followed up by saying, “I truly believe this statement applies so well to the work of the NTSB. When my term expires, I hope we can look back and say, ‘you know, we—Board members, professional staff, industry, labor, government—we all worked together, and we did make a positive impact.”
Indeed, looking back, I truly believe we have made a difference.
I will very much miss working with the incredibly dedicated men and women of the NTSB. It will be hard to stop referring to the NTSB as “we.” Although I will no longer be part of it, the NTSB will always be part of me. For that privilege, I am forever proud and grateful. I have lived my dream.
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