section provides an overview of findings from the workshop on how investigations should be structured and the capabilities and authorities necessary to carry them out.
How should investigations run? Different kinds of investigations will require different skills to conduct, including technical, investigatory, and legal skills. Some investigations will require more legal knowledge, especially as not all investigations will be necessarily cooperative or voluntary. Some will require advanced technical and forensic knowledge. Flexibility will be needed in the allocation and use of resources in these investigations.
FINDING: Subpoena Authority Will Likely Be Necessary for a Board to Succeed While the CSRB may be able to gain participation from affected parties in the SolarWinds incident, in other, lower-profile incidents where the victims have not been as forthcoming, it is likely that an investigation for the purpose of extracting and publicizing lessons learned will require a degree of the heavy arm of the state. The NTSB has the authority to compel witnesses to testify and to subpoena documents.49 While these authorities are a crucial backstop, the aviation community tends to work in a spirit of community interest in making flying safe and is forthcoming with materials, witnesses, etc. We can hope that with sufficient authority behind it, the CSRB or any subsequently created investigative entity could also operate in the same cooperative manner that the NTSB enjoys.
49
National Transportation Safety Board, Aviation Investigation Manual Major Team Investigations, November 2002, at 4.8, https://www.ntsb.gov/ investigations/process/Documents/MajorInvestigationsManual.pdf
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs | Harvard Kennedy School
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