NTSB temporarily closed its public docket system after AI tools reconstructed voices of pilots killed in a UPS plane crash using a spectrogram file and transcript

People used AI tools including Codex to reconstruct cockpit voice recorder audio from UPS Flight 2976 in Louisville, Kentucky by processing a spectrogram file and publicly available transcript that had been posted in the NTSB's docket system.

A spectrogram converts sound signals into an image using a mathematical process. The NTSB is prohibited by federal law from including actual cockpit audio recordings in its public docket system, but a spectrogram file was included, which contained data that could be reverse-engineered into audio.

The NTSB restored public access to its docket system on Friday but kept 42 investigations closed pending review, including the Flight 2976 investigation.