National Transportation Safety Board

Reports of a lone child having survived Tuesday's crash of a Yemenia Airways flight in the Indian Ocean have people wondering: How does anyone survive a plane crash? "I just don't think there's any pattern to survivability. It's just luck of the draw and depends on how the plane goes in," said aviation expert John Eakin, head of Air Data Research in Helotes, Texas. Not counting Tuesday's disaster, there have been 12 airliner crashes since 1970 that yielded a sole survivor, according to data compiled by Dr. Todd Curtis, director of the Airsafe.

Co-pilot Rebecca Shaw traveled all night as a passenger aboard FedEx planes before she got on the commuter plane that nosedived into a house near Buffalo, New York, killing all 49 passengers on an icy February evening. The 24-year-old, with a year of experience, was living in Seattle, Washington, and commuting to Newark, New Jersey -- where the fatal Continental Flight 3407 operated by Colgan Air Inc. originated, according to investigators at the National Transportation Safety Board hearings this week.

A Merpati Nusantara Airlines plane with 15 passengers and crew on board disappeared shortly after takeoff in eastern Indonesia on Sunday, an airline official said. Among the 13 passengers were 11 adults and two babies, said Nikmatullah, director of operations for the airline. The crew included a pilot and co-pilot. "The Merpati plane lost contact 10 to 15 minutes after departing from Jayapura," Ministry of Transportation spokesman Bambang Ervan said. The Cessna aircraft was en route to Oksibil, about 175 miles (280 kilometers)

Three people, including a child, died Sunday when their helicopter crashed about 35 miles north of Phoenix, Arizona, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said. Investigators had yet to determine the cause of the crash, FAA spokesman Ian Gregor told CNN. The Eurocopter EC135 went down at about 3 p.m. local time just west of the Tonto National Forest in Cave Creek, Arizona, and subsequently burst into flames, Gregor said. FAA agents were headed to the scene, and a National Transportation Safety Board investigator was scheduled to arrive Monday, he said.

Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board are expected to arrive Thursday morning to investigate a small plane crash that killed one person in Birmingham, Alabama. The Beech BE-58 was approaching the runway of the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport when it crashed Wednesday, said the Federal Aviation Administration. The cause of the crash is unknown. "All I know is my friend right here told me to look up, and it was a plane in the sky, fire coming out of the back of it," Kairee King told CNN affiliate WBMA.

OTIS AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Massachusetts CNN This statement was released Wednesday by National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Jim Hall and Coast Guard Rear Adm. Richard Larrabee about the discovery of part of the fuselage of John F. Kennedy Jr.s plane;At approximately 1130 p.m. last night, the remoteoperated vehicle operated from the USS Grasp, operating from data provided by the National Transportation Safety Board, discovered a large portion...

Six people were killed Friday when a small plane crashed into the front yard of a home while attempting to land in fog and low visibility in Mount Airy, North Carolina, authorities said. The crash occurred about 11:30 a.m., according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The plane was coming from Polk County Airport in Cedartown, Georgia, and was attempting to land in overcast conditions, with visibility of about 2 ½ miles, said Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown.

A U.S. Border Patrol helicopter went down Thursday night near the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, the FAA said. The McDonnell Douglas 600N, with three people on board, made a forced landing because of engine trouble. The three people were able to exit the helicopter on their own and were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Aerial images showed the chopper sitting on the edge of the surf, just north of the nuclear plant. The aircraft was significantly damaged, authorities said.

A Missouri state trooper died Friday when the helicopter he was flying crashed on a suburban street. Sgt. Joseph Schuengel, 47, was a 17-year veteran of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the last seven of which he spent as a helicopter pilot for the force. He was heading back to the Spirit of St. Louis Airport in Chesterfield, Missouri, when the helicopter went down shortly after 11 a.m. in that town west of St. Louis, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Authorities said there was no immediate indication as to what caused the crash, and the St. Louis County Police Department was working with the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board on the investigation.

Three American crew members died when a Zimbabwean cargo plane crashed early Saturday at Shanghai's Pudong International Airport, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said. The embassy said one of the injured crew members was also an American. The crash happened at about 8:15 a.m. (7:15 p.m. ET Friday) during takeoff in Shanghai, according to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. The plane was destined for Harare, Zimbabwe, said the agency. The NTSB is sending an investigation team to site of the accident.

A second person has died from last week's helicopter crash in New York's East River, authorities said Wednesday. Helen Tamaki, 43, had been in critical condition since the crash and died Tuesday, Bellevue Hospital spokeswoman Frances Arscott said. A 15-member team from the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash, which left three other people injured. Five people were in the helicopter when it plunged into the water shortly after takeoff from a riverside helipad October 4. Four were rescued but a fifth, Sonia Marra of Sydney, Australia, drowned.

A near mid-air collision last month between a commercial airliner and two military planes just outside New York City is under investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board said Friday. According to the NTSB, an American Airlines Boeing 777 left John F. Kennedy airport heading for Sao Paulo, Brazil, on January 20 when it encountered two U.S. Air Force C-17s, which were headed toward McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey. Radar data indicates the aircraft came within a mile of each other at their closest point, a statement from the NTSB said.

Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board are expected to arrive Thursday morning to investigate a small plane crash that killed one person in Birmingham, Alabama. The Beech BE-58 was approaching the runway of the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport when it crashed Wednesday, said the Federal Aviation Administration. The cause of the crash is unknown. "All I know is my friend right here told me to look up, and it was a plane in the sky, fire coming out of the back of it," Kairee King told CNN affiliate WBMA.

A Missouri state trooper died Friday when the helicopter he was flying crashed on a suburban street. Sgt. Joseph Schuengel, 47, was a 17-year veteran of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the last seven of which he spent as a helicopter pilot for the force. He was heading back to the Spirit of St. Louis Airport in Chesterfield, Missouri, when the helicopter went down shortly after 11 a.m. in that town west of St. Louis, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Authorities said there was no immediate indication as to what caused the crash, and the St. Louis County Police Department was working with the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board on the investigation.

Early interviews with the chief engineer of a ferry that crashed into the Staten Island terminal in New York City indicate all conditions were normal before the incident, investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board said Sunday. At least 36 people were injured when the ferry Andrew J. Barberi crashed Saturday morning. The chief engineer told NTSB investigators that no engine alarms sounded before the crash, according to the NTSB's Robert Sumwalt. Additionally, the chief engineer said he had not encountered any propulsion control problems previously on the boat, Sumwalt said.

Residents of a Belleville, Illinois, neighborhood were still shaken Monday after a small plane crashed the day before, killing two aboard and destroying a house. "I think everybody is still in shock," said Deah Bischoff, who lives near the site of the crash. "I think we're all just walking around and looking and trying to absorb what happened." The single-engine plane crashed about 6:30 p.m. Sunday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. No one on the ground was hurt, the FAA said.

Saying it makes no sense that the federal government sets safety standards for railroad passenger cars but not for subway or light-rail cars, the National Transportation Safety Board on Thursday added improved subway car design to its list of "most wanted" transportation safety improvements. The safety board is recommending the government set standards not only for the crashworthiness of transit cars, but also to address the ability of passengers to escape from damaged cars and for rescuers to enter them.

Three people, including a child, died Sunday when their helicopter crashed about 35 miles north of Phoenix, Arizona, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said. Investigators had yet to determine the cause of the crash, FAA spokesman Ian Gregor told CNN. The Eurocopter EC135 went down at about 3 p.m. local time just west of the Tonto National Forest in Cave Creek, Arizona, and subsequently burst into flames, Gregor said. FAA agents were headed to the scene, and a National Transportation Safety Board investigator was scheduled to arrive Monday, he said.

The pilot and co-pilot of a small cargo jet were killed when their aircraft crashed short of the runway while landing at an airport in suburban Chicago, Illinois, local authorities said. The Learjet 35A was on its final approach into Chicago Executive Airport in Wheeling, Illinois, when it went down about 1:30 p.m., the Federal Aviation Administration reported. The plane crashed into a forest preserve about a mile south of the runway and ended up in a river, said Jay Reardon, the head of a multi-agency firefighting task force that responded to the crash.

Three American crew members died when a Zimbabwean cargo plane crashed early Saturday at Shanghai's Pudong International Airport, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said. The embassy said one of the injured crew members was also an American. The crash happened at about 8:15 a.m. (7:15 p.m. ET Friday) during takeoff in Shanghai, according to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. The plane was destined for Harare, Zimbabwe, said the agency. The NTSB is sending an investigation team to site of the accident.