Aviation

• Law Enforcement. Be mindful that it is illegal to instruct employees not to speak with law enforcement officials. You may,
however, advise employees that they are free to speak with law enforcement personnel, if they choose to do so, but are urged
to coordinate interviews with the airline’s in-house or outside legal counsel.
• Employee Communications. All employee communications should be made through normal company channels. It should be
assumed that all communications, even those to be distributed internally, will be made public. The rules for public disclosures
should apply.
• Cause of Accident and Admission of Liability. Under no circumstances should an airline employee speculate about the cause
of an accident or admit liability or wrongdoing on the part of the airline or any employee.
• Release of Documents.
• No documents should be given to anyone, including the NTSB and the FAA, until they have been copied, cataloged and cleared
through legal counsel.
• All documents provided to the NTSB should be accompanied by a cover letter, as approved by counsel.
• Company documents should be considered confidential and proprietary unless and until legal counsel determines otherwise.
Documents provided to the NTSB and FAA should generally be stamped “confidential.”
• Signing Things.
• Under no circumstances should an airline employee sign anything without approval of counsel. This is particularly important for
airline personnel participating in the NTSB investigation. For example, NTSB field notes that are incomplete, inaccurate and
misleading are frequently signed by airline employees who are pressured by the NTSB to sign them. This can cause great
difficulties in any ensuing civil litigation and criminal investigations.
• Nature of the NTSB Process.
• Airline employees who participate in the investigation should be warned that other parties to the investigation, such as the
aircraft manufacturer and the FAA, have interests that differ from and often conflict with the airline’s interests.
• Other parties to the investigation, in particular the aircraft manufacturer and the FAA, have a lot of experience in accident
investigations and therefore know the NTSB investigators and the NTSB process. These parties can manipulate the
investigation by suggesting certain areas of inquiry, downplaying areas that are problematic to them, and providing information
and analysis that is slanted to serve their interests. The airline’s representatives on the investigation team should be made
aware of this fact and be ready to intervene if something is being improperly driven in a direction that could have a negative
impact on the airline.
• Personnel assigned to the investigation will be expected by the NTSB to participate for the entire investigation and generally
may not be replaced by alternates or relieved of duty until the NTSB approves.
• The Party Coordinator will be the primary focal point for all contact with the NTSB on the accident investigation.
• Potential for Criminal Investigation.
• Recent history has demonstrated that law enforcement officials are quick to initiate criminal investigations following an aircraft
accident.
• Everything that is developed in an NTSB investigation has potential to be used in a criminal prosecution of both the airline and
its employees. This makes it critically important that those involved in the investigation follow these guidelines and remain in
close communication with counsel.
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