Special Publication: NTSB 2007 Annual Report to Congress, adopted on July 2, 2008: “The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent agency charged with determining the probable cause of transportation accidents and promoting transportation safety. The NTSB investigates accidents, conducts safety studies, evaluates the effectiveness of other government agencies’ programs for preventing transportation accidents, and reviews the appeals of enforcement actions involving aviation and mariner certificates issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the U.S. Coast Guard, as well as the appeals of civil penalty actions taken by the FAA.”