A pilot involved in an aircraft accident must immediately notify the NTSB. By statute, the NTSB is required to investigate all aircraft accidents. No big deal, we learned that in private pilot ground school. However, there is a question that has to be answered: Is the event really an accident? If it’s not, there’s no obligation to report it to the NTSB—and the NTSB doesn’t want to hear about it, it has enough on its plate.
If it’s not an accident and someone reports it to the NTSB anyway, the FAA is going to hear about it and will be questioning the pilot, potentially leading to problems for the pilot if the FAA then finds something—totally unrelated to the accident—wrong with the pilot’s medical, recency of experience or compliance with maintenance requirements for the airplane.