NTSB-api 1.0.7
A Python wrapper for the NTSB aviation accident database
License: MIT
Requires Python: >=3.8
Keywords: ntsb, aviation, accidents, api, wrapper


# NTSB API Proxy (ntsb-api)

A local, pip-installable proxy around the NTSB public **CAROL** API that:

- simplifies the complex `FileExport` payloads into simple parameters
- lets you **download raw ZIPs** or **directly get parsed JSON**
- does **not** store or host any data – everything runs on the user's machine

You install this library, run the server **locally**, and your code/CLI talks to
`http://localhost:8000`. All requests to `data.ntsb.gov` go directly from your machine.

---

## Installation

### From PyPI (recommended)

```bash
pip install "ntsb-api[server]"
```

This installs the core client/CLI plus the FastAPI server dependencies so you can run `ntsb-server` locally.

### From a local checkout (for development)

```bash
pip install -e .[server]
```

---

## Running the local server

Start the FastAPI server (which proxies and parses NTSB data):

```bash
ntsb-server
```

Or equivalently, using uvicorn directly:

```bash
python -m uvicorn ntsb_api.server.main:app --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8000
```

The server exposes:

- **Download (ZIP) endpoints**: `/api/v1/download/*`
- **Streaming JSON endpoints**: `/api/v1/cases`, `/api/v1/cases/search`, `/api/v1/stats`

Meta endpoints:

- `GET /health` – health check
- `GET /docs` – Swagger UI
- `GET /redoc` – ReDoc

Rate limiting and logging are in-process and exist only to be a good citizen towards NTSB.

---
## Python Usage

### 1. Client setup

```python
from ntsb_api import NTSBClient

client = NTSBClient(base_url="http://localhost:8000", timeout=60)
```

Make sure `ntsb-server` is running before you call the client.

### 2. Download ZIPs programmatically

```python
# Month ZIP
zip_bytes = client.download_month(2025, 4, mode="Aviation")

# Save to disk
with open("ntsb_2025_04.zip", "wb") as f:
    f.write(zip_bytes)

# Date range ZIP
zip_bytes_range = client.download_date_range(
    start_date="2025-04-01",
    end_date="2025-04-30",
    mode="Aviation",
)
```

### 3. Streamed JSON cases

```python
cases_response = client.get_cases(
    start_date="2025-04-01",
    end_date="2025-04-30",
    mode="Aviation",
    limit=100,
)

for case in cases_response["data"]:
    print(case["cm_ntsbNum"], case.get("cm_eventDate"))
```

This calls `/api/v1/cases`, which internally:

1. Hits NTSB `FileExport` with a date-range payload.
2. Parses the ZIP in memory (no disk I/O).
3. Applies pagination/sorting.
4. Returns a JSON envelope: `{"data": [...], "pagination": {...}, "metadata": {...}}`.

### 4. Statistics

```python
stats = client.get_statistics(
    start_date="2025-04-01",
    end_date="2025-04-30",
    mode="Aviation",
)

print(stats["totals"])
```

This maps to `/api/v1/stats` and returns aggregate counts
computed over the parsed cases (fatalities, injuries, by state, etc.).

---

## CLI Usage

The package installs a `ntsb-api` CLI.

### 1. Download a month (ZIP or JSON)

```bash
# Download raw ZIP
ntsb-api download --year 2025 --month 4 \
  --mode Aviation \
  -o data/ntsb_2025_04.zip

# Download and immediately extract JSON to disk
ntsb-api download --year 2025 --month 4 \
  --mode Aviation \
  -o data/ntsb_2025_04.json \
  --extract-json
```

### 2. Download a date range (ZIP or JSON)

```bash
# ZIP
ntsb-api download-range \
  --start-date 2025-04-01 \
  --end-date   2025-04-30 \
  --mode Aviation \
  -o data/ntsb_2025_04_range.zip

# JSON
ntsb-api download-range \
  --start-date 2025-04-01 \
  --end-date   2025-04-30 \
  --mode Aviation \
  -o data/ntsb_2025_04_range.json \
  --extract-json
```

Under the hood these commands:

- call your local proxy server (`http://localhost:8000/api/v1/download/...`)
- download the NTSB `FileExport` ZIP
- optionally **extract the first `*.json` file** inside and write it to disk.

### 3. Streamed JSON cases

Use the proxy's in-memory parsing instead of writing files:

```bash
ntsb-api cases \
  --start-date 2025-04-01 \
  --end-date   2025-04-30 \
  --mode Aviation \
  --limit 50
```

This hits `/api/v1/cases` on the local server, which:

- builds an NTSB `FileExport` payload for the date range + mode
- downloads + parses the ZIP in memory
- applies sorting/pagination
- returns clean JSON (and the CLI prints a short summary).

---



## Design Notes

- **No persistence**: the proxy never stores NTSB data in a database.
- **No hosting**: you run the FastAPI app locally; the author does not host it.
- **No long-term cache**: each request hits the live NTSB API; any in-memory
  state is per-process and short-lived.
- **Good citizen**: a simple in-process rate limiter and retry logic are used
  to avoid hammering NTSB or failing hard on transient network issues.