Searching the NSTB db

Let'sgoflying!

Let'sgoflying!

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Dave Taylor
I can't figure out the new CAROL system. (for 2008 and later)
I want to find all accidents involving a certain model, over a range of years.
https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-main-public/
On my browser, I am not seeing that option and neither can you download the entire db (14,500 hits) and 'search within'.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I can't figure out the new CAROL system. (for 2008 and later)
I want to find all accidents involving a certain model, over a range of years.
https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-main-public/
On my browser, I am not seeing that option and neither can you download the entire db (14,500 hits) and 'search within'.
Click to expand...
I feel your pain. Although not with CAROL I tried to find a certain old crash in my home town by searching location and radius. Had to give it up and Google for articles on the crash which enabled me to find the date, only because one of the passengers was a famous ball player in college. Then I could search by the month/day/year to find it.
 
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I downloaded the entire database and uploaded it to my own SQL server about 2 years ago. I'll jump in here in a few minutes and see if I'm still able to do that.
 
It can be done, you just have to use the advanced search feature at the top of the page. It requires layers of rules. Use the Field drop down to select make, then add another rule for the model, then another for event date(s), and so forth.
 
It’s just terrible. A classic example of a government project designed to make things “better” that has precisely the opposite effect.

There is a tab at the top of the page (not at all obvious, though) that allows you to do an advanced search by adding lots and lots of search parameters. It’s doable but much harder than before.
 
The NSTB absolutely and unequivocally screwed up their whole database

The NSTB should be investigated , this is a safety issue

We had hundreds of accident reports bookmarked for our safety training sessions
None of those links work any more
Moreover the whole NSTB site is practically unsearchable to try to find them again
Previous to that it worked fine for over 20 years.

The NSTB should be investigated and whomever is responsible should be fired .
This is an unsafe situation the NSTB has created
Accident reports are extremely important for safety training .

.
 
TrueCourse said:
It can be done, you just have to use the advanced search feature at the top of the page. It requires layers of rules. Use the Field drop down to select make, then add another rule for the model, then another for event date(s), and so forth.
Click to expand...

That's just the problem. I don't know how to do any of that stuff, and I'm not sure what the "rules" are. The NTSB site used to be fairly accessible, and, for example, it was easy to enter the monthly/annual list of aviation accidents. I've tried in the past to use the new "improved" CAROL system, but I guess I don't know the secret handshake and have been unable to crack the vault of secret or privileged accident reports. For example, a month or so ago, I tried to access the NTSB Report on the B-17 crash at Bradley. I knew the date, type of aircraft, location of accident etc. and dutifully entered all such information into the "blocks" of the access program, but apparently, CAROL was unable digest the information and my search of the NTSB website came up empty. I finally had to use a popular search engine which found the accident report with no problem.

If the product of the NTSB is to be so difficult to access so as to almost accord it a "SECRET" status, then why do we need the NTSB? As mentioned by A Martin above, "Accident reports are extremely important for safety training ."

Just my opinion.

Cheers,
Grog
 
Capngrog said:
The NTSB site used to be fairly accessible, and, for example, it was easy to enter the monthly/annual list of aviation accidents. I've tried in the past to use the new "improved" CAROL system, but I guess I don't know the secret handshake and have been unable to crack the vault of secret or privileged accident reports.
Click to expand...

Oh, I hear you. It used to be easy. I felt the same way you do until I spent a few minutes and figured it out. I would describe the process in detail but it would take too much time writing. Sorry. Once you get it right and do a couple of searches you’ll find it is just as capable, but just not as simple to use the first time. Definitely not an improvement is user friendliness.
 
A Martin said:
The NSTB absolutely and unequivocally screwed up their whole database

The NSTB should be investigated , this is a safety issue

We had hundreds of accident reports bookmarked for our safety training sessions
None of those links work any more
Moreover the whole NSTB site is practically unsearchable to try to find them again
Previous to that it worked fine for over 20 years.

The NSTB should be investigated and whomever is responsible should be fired .
This is an unsafe situation the NSTB has created
Accident reports are extremely important for safety training .

.
Click to expand...
Just think, someone convinced someone else above them that the change was to the good.
 
TrueCourse said:
Oh, I hear you. It used to be easy. I felt the same way you do until I spent a few minutes and figured it out. I would describe the process in detail but it would take too much time writing. Sorry. Once you get it right and do a couple of searches you’ll find it is just as capable, but just not as simple to use the first time. Definitely not an improvement is user friendliness.
Click to expand...
The learning curve is steep, but CAROL is a pretty capable tool. One can edit searches to home in on the desired product.

However, it's a non-starter due to the segredation of pre-2008 data. The average GA aircraft is 40 years old, and there is considerable history that gets ignored.

The NTSB has always been refining their data format. There was a big change in the mid 2000s, and I suspect a search tool optimized for the new format had problems with the old.

A *real* PITA is the fact that the old data is no longer included in the downloadable data set. The old data is its own data set, but that means merging the old with each year's new set or running separate searches.

Ron Wanttaja
 
Yes Ron, that is true and I neglected to include that. Having one dataset for all dates is the best way to do it.
 
Discovered another problem with the NTSB database: Most of the Owner and Operator information has been deleted.

In a version of the database I downloaded last December, only three out of 188 did not include this information. The version I downloaded yesterday didn't include it for 159 of the same 188 entries. Most (though not all...) of the ones remaining are corporate names.

This cramps my style a bit. I use it to try estimate whether a given homebuilt was still owned by the original builder.

I've queried the NTSB via their online form.

Ron Wanttaja
 
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