NTSB Revokes Party Status of Independent Pilots Association and UPS Airlines for Violating Agreements
The revoking comes as a result of a cargo flight that crashed last August
According to a press release from the NTSB, IPA and UPS violated the terms of the party agreement that each had signed at the start of the investigation of UPS Flight 1354, an A300-600 air cargo flight that crashed on approach to Birmingham, Ala., last August.
The organization wrote that both IPA and UPS took actions prejudicial to the investigation by publicly commenting on and providing their own analysis of the investigation prior to the NTSB’s public meeting to determine the probable cause of the accident.
“NTSB investigations depend heavily upon technical input form the accident parties,” said Acting Chairman Christopher A. Hart in the release. “If one party disseminates information about the accident, it may reflect that party’s bias. This puts the other parties at a disadvantage and makes them less willing to engage in the process, which can undercut the entire investigation.”
The IPA issued a press release on August 13 providing its own analysis of the accident, and UPS posted comments on a website responding to the press release in which it also provided its own analysis. Both actions were made without consulting the NTSB, and are explicitly prohibited in the party agreement.