Which form is this? DA Form 2397-13, official title TECHNICAL REPORT OF US ARMY AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INDEX A, used to technical report of u.s. army aircraft accident index a. That is the whole answer in one sentence. What follows explains the version, the file and the entries.
Which edition is on this page? The one dated February 2009, status not stated. On army forms the edition date is the version, printed on the page itself so any copy can be checked.
Who is responsible for this document? OCSA maintains it, and PAM 385-40 prescribes when it is used and where it goes. Completion falls to the person the entries describe or to the administrative staff holding the file. As for effort: 1 page(s), roughly 166 fields.
What the form asks for
- AIR_E
- AIR_NA
- AIR_SEE
- BAL_E
- BAL_NA
- BAL_SEE
- ContentArea1
- DEFIC_E
- DEFIC_NA
- DEFIC_SEE
- DIRCT_E
- DIRCT_NA
- DIRCT_SEE
- DateField1
- ECOD_E
- ECOD_NA
- ECOD_SEE
- FAULT_E
- FAULT_NA
- FAULT_SEE
- FLGT_E
- FLGT_NA
- FLGT_SEE
- MED_E
Download the form
What can I download here? The formats available are PDF, XFDL. Each one reproduces the identical official layout. What separates them is the method of entry, nothing on the page itself.
What is the difference between fillable and printable? A fillable pdf has live fields that accept typing and can be saved with your entries in place. A printable pdf is the same blank page with no live fields, meant to come out of a printer and be completed with a pen. Both print identically once filled.
Which application should I use? Reading takes nothing beyond a browser. Filling takes a proper pdf reader, since browser viewers vary in whether they retain what you type — verify with a single field and a save before you fill the whole form. What is xfdl? The IBM Lotus Forms format used inside Army systems. It requires the Lotus Forms Viewer; nothing else opens it.
Does the download cost anything? No. There is no charge, no account and no email address to surrender, and the file you receive is the published document with nothing added to it.
Which entries come before the rest? The identifying ones at the head of the page: name, identification number, unit, date of preparation. Does it matter that they come first? Yes — everything downstream retrieves the record by those values, so they are worth getting right before you touch the substantive blocks.
What is the fastest way to fill the body? Tab from field to field. The order was set at build time and normally matches how the page reads, which is why tabbing catches boxes that clicking past would leave empty. And the boxes and buttons? Those take a click. Where only one option in a set can apply, choosing one deselects the other.
Why does my text vanish when I print? Because one-line fields have no wrap, and anything past the field width is truncated on paper even though the screen shows all of it. Where should the overflow go? Into remarks, or onto a continuation. What about entries that do not apply? Enter the mark meaning "none". Blank space is ambiguous; a reviewer cannot tell an omission from a considered nil.
Is a signature really the last step? Yes, and without it you have a draft, not a form. Who else signs? Whoever the form calls for — reviewer, approver, witness — in printed block order, each dated as of the day they sign. Which errors cause the most returns? Blank mandatory fields lead, followed by identification numbers with two digits swapped, dates written day-for-month, and leftover data in a reused file that goes forward as though it were meant.
What is the Privacy Act statement on the page? A notice appearing wherever personal information is collected, setting out the authority for the collection, the purpose, the routine uses, and whether your disclosure is mandatory or voluntary. When should you read it? At the point you reach it, before entering the details it covers. And afterwards? Your completed copy holds personal data and is stored and transmitted under the rules that apply to such records.
What happens after signing? The form is routed as the prescribing directive requires: to a named office, through the unit administrative channel, or into the personal file. Do you get the original back? No, so make a copy first. Who sets the retention period? The applicable records schedule, not the office holding the document.
What if this form is not the only one you need? Search by series and number. Within the DA series, forms under the same proponent or the same prescribing directive tend to be required as a set, and anything named on the face of one normally accompanies it. Are continuations part of that? They are, along with covers and transmittals, and all of them are collected in advance rather than after a query.
When is an edition replaced? When the proponent revises the form and publishes a new edition date. What should you do with a copy kept on your own machine? Check its date against the edition in force before reusing it. Does the change reach backwards? It does not; work already completed on an earlier edition remains valid as filed.
Is this an official Department of the Army site? No. It is an independent site distributing reproductions of published Department of the Army documents for download, with no authority to issue forms. Does it guarantee acceptance of anything you submit? It does not, and nothing on the page is legal advice. Who should you ask instead? OCSA or your servicing administrative office, whenever an entry, a requirement or your eligibility is in doubt.
Questions and answers
- What is DA Form 2397-13?
- TECHNICAL REPORT OF US ARMY AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INDEX A
- Which edition is current?
- February 2009
- Who is responsible for this form?
- OCSA
- In which formats can it be downloaded?
- PDF, XFDL