On May 1, 2001, a tractor-semi-trailer that had horizontally mounted cylinders filled with compressed hydrogen struck a pickup truck near Ramona, Oklahoma. During the accident, some of its cylinders, valves, piping, and fittings were damaged and released hydrogen. The safety issues discussed in this report are the adequacy of Federal requirements for protecting cylinders that are horizontally mounted on semitrailers and the valves, piping, and fittings of the cylinders during rollover accidents and the adequacy of the information in the North American Emergency Response Guidebook about...

This report discusses the May 14, 2007 accident in which the passenger vessel Empress of the North grounded on Rocky Island. The vessel was carrying 206 passengers and 75 crew members on a cruise through Alaska's Inland Passage. The junior third mate, a newly licensed officer, was on his first navigation watch at the time of the accident. The NTSB identified safety issues and made recommendations to the U.S. state and federal maritime academies and to the Passenger Vessel Association. Earlier recommendations were made to the Coast Guard.

This report discusses the July 18, 2006, accident on the cruise ship Crown Princess in which the vessel heeled at a maximum angle of about 24, resulting in injuries to 298 passengers and crewmembers. The vessel's second officer, the senior watch officer on the bridge, had disengaged the automatic steering mode of the vessel's integrated navigation system and taken manual control of the steering in an effort to counteract a perceived high rate of turn to port. He turned the wheel first to port and then between port and starboard several times, causing the vessel to suddenly heel and people to...

This report discusses the accident in which a 5-ton spud (mooring shaft) unintentionally released from the uninspected construction barge Athena 106 and struck a natural gas pipeline buried in West Cote Blanche Bay, Louisiana. The Athena 106 and another barge were both being pushed by the towing vessel Miss Megan. The gas ignited and created a fireball that engulfed the Miss Megan and both barges. Five people were killed and two survived; one barge worker was officially listed as missing as of the report date. Damages were estimated at $150,000 for the Athena 106 and $650,000 for the Miss...

On July 14, 2001, at the ATOFINA Chemicals, Inc., plant in Michigan, a pipe attached to a fitting on the unloading line of a railroad tank car fractured and separated, causing the release of methyl mercaptan, a poisonous and flammable gas. As a result of its investigation, the NTSB identified safety issues and detailed recommendations which are found within this document.

On February 18, 1999, a railroad tank car UTLX 643593, was on the west unloading rack at the Essroc Cement Corp. Logansport cement plant near Clymers, Indiana, sustained a sudden and catastrophic rupture that propelled the tank of the tank car an estimated 750 feet and over multistory storage tanks. The tank car contained a toxic and flammable hazardous was. There were no injuries or fatalities. However there were damages totaling $8.2 million including property damage and lost production.

This special investigation report looks at one of the most serious types of highway accidents-collisions involving vehicles traveling the wrong way on high-speed divided highways. The goal of this investigative project is to identify relevant safety recommendations to prevent wrong-way collisions on such highways and access ramps. The investigations included in the report take a focused view of the driver and highway issues affecting wrong-way collisions. The report addresses the following safety issues concerning wrong-way driving: driver impairment, primarily from alcohol use, with...

On January 7, 2013, about 1021 eastern standard time, smoke was discovered by cleaning personnel in the aft cabin of a Japan Airlines (JAL) Boeing 787-8, JA829J, which was parked at a gate at General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport (BOS), Boston, Massachusetts. About the same time, a maintenance manager in the cockpit observed that the auxiliary power unit (APU) had automatically shut down.2 Shortly afterward, a mechanic opened the aft electronic equipment bay (E/E bay) and found heavy smoke coming from the lid of the APU battery case and a fire with two distinct flames at the...