U.S. NTSB cuts back on travel over COVID-19 concerns

WASHINGTON — The chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Wednesday the agency is halting travel unrelated to investigating crashes through at least the end of January.

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told employees in an email seen by Reuters that because of “substantial COVID numbers across the country – to include the Washington, D.C. area” that “agency leadership has made the decision to temporarily pause non-mission travel, which includes outreach, training, advocacy, and conferences.”

The NTSB is an independent federal agency charged by Congress with investigating every civil aviation accident in the United States and significant railroad, highway, marine and pipeline accidents.

The restrictions will prevent NTSB employees from participating in two major events – the annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) and the Government/Industry Meeting of SAE International, a global association of aerospace, automotive and commercial-vehicle engineers and technical experts.

Homendy noted both are “attended by thousands of people around the globe” and many NTSB personnel were due to participate.

She said the goal “is to protect our workforce while prioritizing the conduct of mission work. The safety and health of our employees is of the utmost importance to ensure that we can continue carrying out our critical safety mission.”

The NTSB will reevaluate the restrictions at the end of January, she said. (Reporting by David Shepardson Editing by Marguerita Choy)