The Associated Press has learned that the chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board will step down from his position at the end of June.

The National Transportation Safety Board has found that obstructed views and problems with a system that alerts pilots to nearby planes combined to cause the midair crash of Alaska sightseeing planes that killed six people two years ago.

On Tuesday, March 23, 2021, federal safety officials said tougher regulations are needed for air tour operators and hot-air balloon rides. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)Federal safety officials are making another push for stricter oversight of air tour operators and hot-air balloon rides after several deadly crashes in recent years. Safety board members said some of the operators exploit loopholes in FAA regulations to avoid stricter oversight. NTSB members said, however, those steps aren't enough and that some tour operators evade closer monitoring by how they describe their flights. The NTSB blamed poor decision-making by the pilot as the probable cause of the balloon crash, the worst U.S. aviation accident since 2009.

“Here is a case where a pilot who is well regarded apparently got into a very bad situation,” Sumwalt said. AdThere were 184 aircraft crashes between 2010-2019 involving spatial disorientation, including 20 fatal helicopter crashes, the NTSB said. Vanessa Bryant has sued Island Express Helicopters Inc., which operated the aircraft, and its owner, Island Express Holding Corp. She said Zobayan was not properly trained or supervised and should have aborted the flight. Island Express Helicopters Inc. denied responsibility and said the crash was “an act of God” that it could not control. Lawyers for Berge Zobayan and Island Express declined to comment on the NTSB findings.

Officials believe Zobayan may have also felt “continuation bias,” an unconscious tendency among pilots to stick with the original plan despite changing conditions. The crash led to widespread public mourning for the retired basketball star and several lawsuits, and prompted state and federal legislation. But NTSB investigator-in-charge Bill English said the system, which was not on the helicopter, would probably not have prevented the crash. Federal lawmakers have sponsored the Kobe Bryant and Gianna Bryant Helicopter Safety Act to mandate the warning systems on all helicopters carrying six or more passengers. Island Express Helicopters Inc. denied responsibility and said the crash was “an act of God” that it could not control.

An aerial view of the site of an early morning train crash Sunday, Feb. 4, 2018, between an Amtrak train, bottom right, and a CSX freight train, top left, in Cayce, SC. COLUMBIA, S.C. - Federal safety officials ruled Tuesday yet another fatal train crash in the United States has been caused by easy-to-fix human errors. The National Transportation Safety Board determined the crash of an Amtrak train into a parked train on a side track near Columbia, South Carolina, in February 2018 was CSX's fault. CSX also plans to have Positive Train Control in place, tested and operational where required by the end of 2020, company spokeswoman Cindy Schild said. In the 2018 South Carolina crash, Amtrak engineer Michael Kempf, 54, of Savannah, Georgia, and conductor Michael Cella, 36, of Orange Park, Florida, were killed.