The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent agency charged with determining the probable cause of transportation accidents and promoting transportation safety. The Board investigates accidents, conducts safety studies, evaluates the effectiveness of other government agencies' programs for preventing transpor tation accidents, and reviews the appeals of enforcement actions involving airman and seaman certificates issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and civil penalty actions taken by the FAA.