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Transportation will begin operation. This Federal Department has been created by virtue of the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. Essentially, this Act contains the same provisions on accident investigation as did the Federal Aviation Act of 1958. However, and autonomous unit has been created within the Department known as the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). It is under this law that Federal employees will participate in foreign accident investigations and the information so obtained will be available to the public. There are no proposed regulations for the NTSB available as yet, but I believe that we can safely presume that the initial regulations will be an adoption of the CAB's Regulations presently found in Part 311 of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations. (14 CFR 311, et esq.) Therein, it is provided that accident information is available in Washington, including the right to inspect the factual investigation file. There should be a wealth of factual information available in the future here in the United States relating to the foreign aircraft accidents when the provisions of the new Annex are executed. 

This paper does not deal in depth with the subject of procedure for obtaining information from the U.S. Government about foreign accident investigations or the method for obtaining the testimony of the U.S. Government Investigators who participate in foreign investigations because Mr. Sincoff covers that topic quite adequately. I should only add that the process is the same except in those cases where the foreign government has made a specific request for restriction of the release of information. In such a case, there is no internal standard which would prevent the U.S. Government from releasing information, but there is a "recommendation" that such requests be honored. This places the situation squarely as a matter of comity between