NTSB Aircraft Incidents and Accidents in Google Earth

Unlike the FAA, the NTSB permits anyone on the Internet to download their entire database of aircraft incidents and accidents. The NTSB's file is simple: one table contains all fields, and their data dictionary explains the fields. The URL to the narrative at the NTSB's site is included for quick report access. I downloaded that file and converted it into a KML file for Google Earth. The event icons are color-coded: blue for incidents, orange for non-fatal accidents, and red for fatal accidents. Unknown events get the default GE pushpin.


CLICK ON THE ICONS IN GOOGLE EARTH FOR MORE INFORMATION. (Seriously, a lot of people miss this and don't get most of the information.)

I did not have to do any geographic math on latitude and longitude. It's in decimal format in the NTSB downloadable, unlike the FAA which has at least two different lat/lon formats in every file. Not all location information is correct, but most of it is. (An example is N6ZV.)

Unfortunately, not all events have been geocoded. Twenty-seven percent, or 19,706 of the total 72,571 events in the NTSB database do have latitude and longitude, and those are contained in the KML file along with other details of the event. Please note that in Google Earth, you need to click on the icon to get the details. (Some people just look at all the items but do not click and miss most of the useful information.)

Looking at the file in Google Earth, the obvious becomes apparent: Most incidents and accidents take place at airports. Out west, a planes don't always make it over mountains. Looking at red sites is also a little creepy.

The idea to map aircraft accidents into a KML file grew out of my imperfect recollection of accidents at nearby airports. I remembered one accident at a nearby airport (ANP), but not the details. If you're going to use all available information to brief yourself, then NTSB accident information for an unfamiliar destination airport might prove useful. You don't need this file and Google Earth to do it -- you can use the NTSB's site. Using the GE, however, might help you identify problem areas.

If I update the KML file (NTSB data is updated monthly), it will go into the KML archive.

Class B, C, D and experimental E Airspace KML files posted

FAA subscription data includes .shp (shape) files for ESRI products. Google Earth Pro ($400/year) is capable of opening these shape files directly, but the default setting is to make them opaque. Thus the class B airspace looks like one single area with no details. FWTools is a free open-source conversion tool to change GIS formats. It also does a much better job of converting the data, showing each individual airpspace and its low and high altitudes. The FAA marks the class E files as experimental, NOT TO BE USED FOR NAVIGATION.

The FWTools command to change from the FAA's .shp format to KML is as follows:
ogr2ogr -f "KML" C:\airports\class_b.kml C:\airports\class_b.shp The FAA lists airspace in order (e.g. Washington Class B Area A, Washington Class B Area B...), and fwtools maintains this order. When Google Earth displays this information, the last one listed goes on "top" of the area. Thus when you click on the center of a Class B zone, the widest area comes up, NOT the SFC to 10000 area. You can see the correct area when you click on the corresponding area layer, however. (I am currently working on a fix for this, but it requires some custom XML and SQL programming that's going to take some time.)

However, there is a weakness in Google Earth. The KML specification does not allow the creation of floating polygons. All non-plane polygons are extruded from the surface or ocean floor. Thus, there's no way to express in KML the upside-down-wedding-cake shape of your typical Bravo airspace. This may one day change, however, because Google is already adding its own extensions to the KML specification.

If you don't want to bother, just download the Airpspace KML files here: Archive link.The usual warning applies -- DO NOT USE FOR NAVIGATION. The KML archive is here.