Justification for Non-Substantive Changes

Justification for Non-Substantive Changes

National Transportation Safety Board

NTSB Form 6120.1: Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Since receiving approval for the Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident/Incident Report form in April 2024 and for non-substantive changes in July 2024, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has created a digitized version of the form and made non-substantive changes to allow users to complete the form online.

The non-substantive changes include revisions to some of the language in the form instructions and the questions that users complete to indicate that the form is being completed entirely online. The prior version of the form was a pdf that could be submitted electronically, however, the new version of the form allows users to respond to the form questions and provide their submission using Login.gov.

There remains an option to submit the form as a pdf without logging in:

The non-substantive changes made to ease the completion of the digital form include the following:

• As stated above, in order to complete the form digitally and save the form, users will log into Login.gov.

• We made certain questions mandatory, so that the user cannot move forward with completion until answering those questions.

• We added drop-down options for some questions.

• The instructions for completing the form as largely identical to the prior version, but there are some minor language changes to address the digital format, such as removing an instruction regarding the submission of multiple pages.

• We added a way for users to track their completion of the form.

• We added the form instructions to the landing page where the user logs in.

• We ensured the OMB control number and expiration date appear on the upper left corner as the user completes the form and remain visible throughout completion.

• We added a burden statement to both the digitized form using Login.gov and pdf form.

Further, we revised the language on the pdf version of the form regarding the public release of the information to state the following: “I understand the information provided may be subject to public release.” We added this language to the digital version of the form.

Below are selected screenshots of the digitized form: