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NTSB Investigation Workflow

Run the Workflow Fullscreen

About This MicroSim

An aircraft accident investigation follows a disciplined sequence — from the first notification through to a final report that states a probable cause. This interactive flowchart lays out the nine stages an NTSB investigation moves through, top to bottom.

Click any stage to read a short description of what happens there. A red re-test loop connects Analysis & Correlation back to Laboratory Analysis, showing that the process is not strictly one-way: when a hypothesis needs more evidence, investigators send work back to the lab before reaching a conclusion.

How to Use It

  1. Read the nine stages from top to bottom — the order in which an investigation actually proceeds.
  2. Click any stage to open its infobox in the panel on the right.
  3. Click the same stage again to clear the selection.
  4. Trace the red arrow from stage 8 back to stage 6 — the re-test loop — and click stage 8 to read why analysis can return to the laboratory.

What You Can Learn

  • Describe the ordered stages of an aircraft accident investigation, from notification to probable cause.
  • Explain the role of the Investigator-in-Charge and the go-team launch.
  • Explain why the workflow includes a feedback loop rather than a straight line, and why the final output is "probable cause," not "proven cause."

You can embed this MicroSim on your own web page with this iframe:

<iframe src="https://dmccreary.github.io/forensic-science/sims/ntsb-investigation-workflow/main.html"
        width="100%" height="602" scrolling="no"></iframe>

Lesson Plan

Audience: High-school forensic science (grades 9–12) Time: 10–15 minutes Bloom level: Understand (L2) — describe the investigation sequence.

Routine. Have students click through all nine stages in order, then close the sim and try to reconstruct the sequence from memory. Reopen it to check.

Guided questions:

  • Why must On-Scene Documentation (stage 3) come before anything is moved?
  • What does the Investigator-in-Charge do, and how quickly does the go-team deploy?
  • Explain the re-test loop between stages 8 and 6. Why is a one-way flow not enough for a complex crash?
  • Why does the final report say "probable cause" rather than "proven cause"?

Extension. Map each stage to the chapter techniques it uses — recorder readout, wreckage reconstruction, metallurgical analysis, human factors — and identify which forensic skill from earlier chapters each one draws on.

References

Specification

This MicroSim was generated from a specification in Chapter 19: Aviation Crash Forensics and Aircraft Accident Investigation.

Design note: the chapter specifies a Mermaid flowchart with click callbacks. To stay consistent with the other workflow MicroSims in this textbook (which use clickable p5.js flowcharts with a side detail panel), this sim implements the same interaction in p5.js: every node is clickable and opens an infobox, and the re-test feedback arrow is drawn explicitly.