The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released a new secure online portal that will allow pilots and operators to submit data to directly.
The portal replaces Form 6120 that pilots and operators previously had to download and submit via email back to the NTSB to support the agency’s investigations into accidents and incidents. The new form, Form 6120.1, can be filed online by phone or computer, the agency said, eliminating the need for investigators to manually input the information.
The new digital form was designed to be convenient and secure, the agency said, while allowing pilots and operators to save changes before submitting the form and to check on the status of the submission directly on the NTSB’s website.
Federal regulations require the pilot-in-command, or the operator of an aircraft with and FAA-issued registration number, to report an accident to the NTSB “immediately, and by the most expeditious means available.” Previously, once an initial report was made by calling the NTSB’s 24-hour Response Operations Center, an investigator would determine whether the NTSB would investigate. When an investigation was opened, the pilot and/or operator was required to go to the NTSB website, download a pdf, fill it out and return it by email to the agency. The agency said it receives nearly 1,000 of these reports each year.