NTSB’s principal responsibility is to  promote transportation safety by investigating transportation accidents, determining the probable cause, and issuing recommendations to address  safety issues identified during accident investigations. NTSB lacks the resources to conduct on-scene investigations of all  aviation accidents. NTSB Has Made Recent Progress in Following Leading Management Practices, But Overall Record Remains Mixed

Through our work government wide we have identified a number of key  functional areas and leading practices in areas that are important for  managing an agency. NTSB has begun to develop a performance management system that  should eventually link each individual’s performance throughout the  agency to the agency’s strategic goals and objectives. In recent years, NTSB has made significant progress in  improving its financial management. For example, NTSB  restructured its purchase card system and guidelines to address problems,  such as unrestrained and unapproved purchases on government credit  cards. NTSB Is Accomplishing Its Accident Investigation Mission, but Opportunities Exist to Gain Efficiencies

While NTSB is accomplishing its accident investigation mission, it faces challenges that affect the efficiency of the report production and recommendation close-out processes. NTSB  routinely takes longer than 2 years to complete major aviation investigations. Safety Recommendations Close-out Process Is Time Consuming for Several Reasons

The processes for federal transportation agencies to implement NTSB’s  safety recommendations, and for NTSB to change the status of  recommendations it has made, are also lengthy because of complex processes involving many players. Federal officials with whom we spoke at DOT, which receives the bulk of NTSB recommendations, indicated that they have been working with  NTSB to find acceptable means of implementing recommendations. Academy Costs Have Exceeded Revenues

For the first 2 full years of operation, fiscal years 2004 and 2005, NTSB’s  academy did not generate sufficient revenues to cover the costs of  providing training, as shown in table 1. As a result, those portions of the  academy’s costs that were not covered by the revenues from tuition and  other sources—approximately $6.3 million in fiscal year 2004 and $3.9  million in fiscal year 2005—were offset by general appropriations to the  agency. In addition, NTSB lacks a full cost-accounting system that  would facilitate doing so. According to NTSB officials, it has explored this option with  other organizations, but has not found others who will pay a yearly retainer for the service.While NTSB has taken action to generate revenue  from other sources, it does not have a business plan or marketing strategy that seeks to optimize opportunities for additional revenues. To improve agency  performance in the key functional management areas of strategic planning, human capital planning, financial management, and communications, we  recommend that the Chairman implement the following three  recommendations: Improve strategic planning by developing a revised strategic plan that  follows performance-based practices; developing a strategic training plan that is aligned with the revised strategic plan and identifies skill gaps that  pose obstacles to meeting the agency’s strategic goals and curriculum that  would eliminate these gaps; and aligning their organizational structure to  implement the strategic plan and eliminate unnecessary management  layers. In addition the plan should consider the feasibility of subleasing a portion of the academy space. To determine the extent to which NTSB is generating sufficient revenues  to cover costs at its academy, we reviewed financial data on NTSB’s  academy, including the revenues and expenses for fiscal years 2004 and  2005.
Why GAO Did This Study

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is a relatively small agency that plays a vital role in transportation safety and has a worldwide reputation for investigating accidents. With a staff of about 400 and a budget of $76.7 million in fiscal year 2006, NTSB investigates all civil aviation accidents in the United States, and significant accidents in railroad, highway, marine, and pipeline; and issues safety recommendations to address issues identified during accident investigations. To support its mission, NTSB built a training academy, which opened in 2003 and provides training to NTSB investigators and others. It is important that NTSB use its resources efficiently to carry out its mission and maintain its preeminence. This testimony, based on ongoing work for this committee, addresses the extent to which NTSB follows leading practices in selected management areas, addresses challenges in completing accident investigations and closing safety recommendations, and generates sufficient revenues to cover costs at its academy.

What GAO Found

NTSB has recently made progress in following leading management practices, but overall has a mixed record. For example, NTSB has improved its financial management by hiring a Chief Financial Officer and putting controls on its purchasing activities, which should address past problems with unapproved purchases. However, NTSB lacks a full cost accounting system, which would inform managers of the resources spent on individual investigations and provide data to balance office workload. NTSB has also begun to develop a performance management system that should eventually link each individual's performance to the agency's strategic goals and objectives. However, the performance management system will not be fully functional until NTSB has developed a strategic plan with results-oriented goals and objectives and specific strategies for achieving them, which are lacking in the current strategic plan. Other areas, such as human capital and communications, partially follow leading practices. While NTSB is accomplishing its accident investigation mission, it faces challenges that affect the efficiency of the report production and recommendation close out processes. NTSB routinely takes longer than 2 years to complete major investigations. Several factors may affect the length of report production, including several revisions of draft reports through multiple layers of the organization. In addition, the processes for federal transportation agencies to implement NTSB's safety recommendations and for NTSB to change the status of recommendations are lengthy, paper-based, and labor intensive. While Department of Transportation officials have been working with NTSB to find acceptable means of implementing its recommendations, they cite the lengthy rule-making process as a challenge to speedy implementation. For fiscal years 2004 and 2005, NTSB's academy did not generate sufficient revenues to cover the costs of providing training. As a result, those portions of the academy's costs that were not covered by the revenues from tuition and other sources--approximately $6.3 million in fiscal year 2004 and $3.9 million in fiscal year 2005--were offset by general appropriations to the agency. While NTSB has taken action to generate revenue from other sources, such as renting academy space for conferences, it does not have a marketing plan that seeks to optimize opportunities for additional revenues at the academy.