NTSB won’t investigate Tenn. bus crash due to shutdown

“In this particular case, I think it’s highly likely that we would have responded to it, but again, with our investigators furloughed, it’s impossible to do that,” Sharon Bryson, deputy director of communications for the NTSB, told NBC News.

Wednesday’s bus crash left eight people dead and more than 14 injured. All of those injured were reportedly senior citizens. They were on a trip from North Carolina.

The board, however, is still probing a commuter train crash in Chicago earlier this week that left several dozen injured. 

{mosads}According to the agency’s shutdown contingency plan, “If funds have expired, and the funding lapse is anticipated to be temporary, the NTSB can perform only emergency essential activities or activities necessary for the orderly shutdown of routine, nonemergency operations.”

About 800,000 “nonessential” government workers were sent home Tuesday after Congress failed to pass a budget to fund the new fiscal year, causing the government to close. 

People who inspect auto recalls, food and aviation safety are just some examples of who have been affected by furloughs.