There are no NTSB investigators to look into plane crashes and highway accidents because they've been sent home during the government shutdown
- The government shutdown has effectively halted operations at the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
- The NTSB is tasked with investigating aviation and surface transportation accidents.
- According to the Wall Street Journal, 93% of the NTSB's employees have been furloughed.
- This has result 74 investigation being put on hold due to the lack of staff, CBS News reported.
As the government shutdown pushes past the one month mark, it's taking a severe toll on the operations of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). As the independent organization tasked with investigating aviation and surface transportation accident, the NTSB looks into everything from crashed Boeing airliners in Indonesia to burning Teslas is Los Angeles.
Since the government shutdown commenced late last month, nearly all NTSB staff have been on furlough which means the agency's operations has effectively ground to the halt.
In fact, when we reached out to an NTSB spokesman for comment, Business Insider received an automatic email response which stated:
"Thank you for your message. Due to the lapse in appropriations, I and the media relations staff have been furloughed. I am not checking or responding to email or voicemail during the shutdown. I will respond to your email after the shutdown has ended."
According to the Wall Street Journal, 93% of the NTSB's 397 staff members were put on furlough, while those who remain on the job have been working without pay.
As a result, documents obtained by CBS News show 74 investigations have been put on hold. These investigations include more than 20 fatal accidents that that resulted in 34 deaths and 18 injuries, CBS News reported.
The US federal government entered into a partial shutdown on December 22 due to a disagreement over $5.7 billion in funding of a wall along US-Mexico border.