14 USC 951 – Aircraft accident investigations
(a)
Terms Used In 14 USC 951
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
(b)
(1)
(2)
(A) that such tapes, reports, or other information would be included within and releasable with the final accident investigation report; and
(B) that release of such tapes, reports, or other information—
(i) would not undermine the ability of accident or safety investigators to continue to conduct the investigation; and
(ii) would not compromise national security.
(3)
(c)
(1) if the evidence surrounding the accident is sufficient for the investigators who conduct the accident investigation to come to an opinion as to the cause or causes of the accident, the final report of the accident investigation shall set forth the opinion of the investigators as to the cause or causes of the accident; and
(2) if the evidence surrounding the accident is not sufficient for the investigators to come to an opinion as to the cause or causes of the accident, the final report of the accident investigation shall include a description of those factors, if any, that, in the opinion of the investigators, substantially contributed to or caused the accident.
(d)
(e)
(1) the term “accident investigation” means any form of investigation by Coast Guard personnel of an aircraft accident referred to in subsection (a), other than a safety investigation; and
(2) the term “safety investigation” means an investigation by Coast Guard personnel of an aircraft accident referred to in subsection (a) that is conducted solely to determine the cause of the accident and to obtain information that may prevent the occurrence of similar accidents.