Subsequent to its investigations, it makes recommendations that are intended to prevent the recurrence of similar accidents.

The NTSC emphasizes that the sole objective of its activities is to prevent recurrence of accidents, not to assign blame or liability.

[3] In 2000, shortly after its creation, the NTSC issued a report on the crash of SilkAir Flight 185, where 104 people were killed, which stated that the agency was unable to determine a cause.

The United States National Transportation Safety Board, which had also assisted in the Flight 185 investigation, told the NTSC that the cause of the crash was a suicide by pilot (in this case the captain) via a letter sent on 11 December the same year.

[4][5] However, the first aviation accident investigated by the NTSC was Garuda Indonesia Flight 152, where 234 people were killed.