4

Two years ago, there was a fatal crash in Fredericksburg, VA in which 6 people died in a Beech 95-B55. For some reason, the story struck me, and I wrote a note to myself to follow up on it.

The NTSB published a preliminary report 12 days after the crash (on 8/24/2016) but has not published any report since then. Do investigations sometimes end at preliminary reports, or will they someday follow up with a final report?

The NTSB case is ERA16FA288. I searched the NTSB's "Aviation Accident Database & Synopses" page for all events in Virginia on 8/12/2016 (as well as googling the airplane's tail number), and couldn't find anything after that preliminary report.

yshavit
  • 1,163
  • 1
  • 12
  • 21
  • 2
    Yes, there are many cases where the NTSB doesn't release a "final" report. There are also cases where the NTSB doesn't release a final report for years. You could try to contact the Richmond FSDO to ask about a status. – Ron Beyer Aug 13 '18 at 03:51
  • 1
    Looks like the final report was published Oct 1, 2018. – BowlOfRed Feb 03 '23 at 23:52

1 Answers1

4

As a retired NTSB employee, I can say that reports with an FA number like that one should definitely close out with a probable cause determination, typically within a year. Two years is an outlier, and the delay is likely attracting some internal attention. If you really want to find out about the status, you can call 202-314-6290 and ask for the Ashburn field office. It's probably their case, and the manager should be able to figure out what's holding it up.

Federico
  • 32,559
  • 17
  • 136
  • 184
sjdunham
  • 411
  • 2
  • 2