The NTSB holds a fascinating position in our government—it is the righteous gadfly buzzing around the federal regulators of transportation safety, annoying them, criticizing them and constantly urging them to act more resolutely to decrease the number of deaths and injuries to Americans due to any mode of transportation.
The NTSB has no regulatory power. It can only recommend. It regularly supports its recommendations with accident data, of which it has long been the storehouse, something that is, in itself, a national treasure.