NTSB Safety Recommendation P-26-006

NTSB safety recommendation P-26-006.

TO ATMOS ENERGY CORPORATION: Develop and implement a program to provide more frequent training to emergency response officials in all the distribution areas that you serve, including training on how to respond to natural gas-leak calls, and monitor the program for effectiveness.

Priority: CLASS II

Overall Status: Open - Initial Response Received

Issued Date: 2026-03-26

Adopted Date: 2026-03-12

Synopsis: This report discusses the January 2024 natural gas-fueled explosions and fires at two separate homes in Jackson, Mississippi, which occurred 3 days apart, collectively resulting in one injury, one fatality, and three destroyed homes. Safety issues identified in this report include compression coupling leaks, insufficient leak management program, inadequate distribution integrity management program, ineffective public awareness program, and absence of natural gas detection alarms in buildings.

Probable Cause: The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the two explosions at two separate homes in Jackson, Mississippi, was the service-line pipes partially pulling out of the compression couplings, likely because of soil movement (shrinking and swelling), creating natural gas leaks that Atmos Energy Corporation identified and left unrepaired for at least 8 weeks, which enabled gas to migrate to the nearby homes and ignite. Contributing to Atmos Energy Corporation’s failure to prevent the accidents were the operator’s: (1) insufficient leak management program, which did not determine appropriate monitoring timelines for leaks in adverse-soil conditions; (2) ineffective public awareness program, which did not adequately educate the public or emergency response officials on how to respond to a suspected natural gas leak; and (3) inadequate integrity management program, which did not appropriately assess and address risk in its Mississippi Division pipeline system.

Ntsbnumber: PLD24FR003

Report Number: PIR-26-01

Addressee Name: ATMOS Energy Corporation

Addressee Status: Open - Initial Response Received

Addressee Organization Type: P-Private Industry

Communication Date: 2026-03-26

Communication Type: Transmittal Letter

Communication Contents: The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent federal agency charged by Congress with investigating every civil aviation accident in the United States and significant accidents in other modes of transportation—railroad, highway, marine, and pipeline. We determine the probable cause of the accidents and issue safety recommendations aimed at preventing future accidents. In addition, we carry out special studies concerning transportation safety and coordinate the resources of the federal government and other organizations to assist victims and their family members affected by major transportation disasters. We are providing the following information to urge Atmos Energy Corporation to act on the safety recommendation in this letter because we believe your organization can help reduce the risk of future accidents. For more information about the NTSB and our recommendation process, please see the attached one-page summary. This letter also includes information about our March 12, 2026, report, Atmos Energy Corporation Natural Gas-Fueled Home Explosions and Fires, Jackson, Mississippi, January 24, 2024, and January 27, 2024, NTSB/PIR-26-01. The details of this accident investigation and the resulting safety recommendations may be found in the attached report, which can also be accessed at http://www.ntsb.gov. As a result of this investigation, we identified the following safety issues: • Compression coupling leaks that the natural gas distribution operator had identified and left unrepaired. • Insufficient leak management program, which did not determine appropriate monitoring timelines for leaks in adverse-soil conditions. • Ineffective public awareness program, which did not adequately educate the public or emergency response officials on how to respond to a suspected natural gas leak. • Inadequate distribution integrity management program, which did not appropriately assess and address risk in its pipeline system. • Absence of natural gas detection alarms in buildings, which left occupants vulnerable to the dangers of unrecognized gas leaks. Accordingly, the NTSB makes the following safety recommendations to Atmos Energy Corporation (additional information regarding this recommendation can be found in the noted section of the report): • Develop and implement a program to locate and replace all mechanical couplings and mechanical joints located in expansive soils that are not resistant to pipe pullout with couplings and joints developed specifically for those conditions. The program should establish and make public the project milestones and timeline. (P-26-3) (See section 2.2.) • Update your companywide leak management program procedures to require weekly monitoring of nonhazardous (grade 2 or grade 3) belowground leaks identified in locations with adverse-soil conditions (such as water-saturated soil, flooding, drought, frozen ground, or settlement). (P-26-4) (See section 2.3.) • After completing the action described in P-26-4, implement a training program to maintain employee and contractor proficiency on the updated procedures. (P-26-5) (See section 2.3.) • Develop and implement a program to provide more frequent training to emergency response officials in all the distribution areas that you serve, including training on how to respond to natural gas-leak calls, and monitor the program for effectiveness. (P-26-6) (See section 2.4.) • Require your technicians who identify but do not repair a belowground natural gas leak to immediately notify people near the unrepaired leak that (1) the hazard potential of a leak can change over time, and (2) they should evacuate and then call 9 1 1 and Atmos Energy Corporation every time they smell natural gas odorant. (P-26-7) (See section 2.4.) • Develop and implement a program to proactively identify and collect missing service-line information for all your operating divisions. The program should (1) identify one or more methods for gaining additional system data and (2) establish and make public the milestones and timeline for acquiring the unknown system data. (P-26-8) (See section 2.5.) • Transition from a relative-risk model to a probabilistic distribution integrity management risk model. (P-26-9) (See section 2.5.) • Develop and implement a program that makes natural gas alarms available to members of the public who reside in your distribution areas. (P-26-10) (See section 2.6.) The NTSB is vitally interested in these recommendations because they are designed to prevent accidents and save lives. We would appreciate a response within 90 days of the date of this letter, detailing the actions you have taken or intend to take to implement these recommendations. When replying, please refer to the safety recommendations by number (Safety Recommendation P-26-3 through -10). We encourage you to submit your response to ExecutiveSecretariat@ntsb.gov. If your reply, including attachments, exceeds 20 megabytes, please e mail us at the same address for instructions on how to send larger documents. Please do not submit both an electronic copy and a hard copy of the same response. All communications regarding safety recommendations are stored by the NTSB and viewable by the public. Please do not send privileged or confidential communications in response to this recommendation. Responses marked as confidential or privileged (or similar designations) will be considered nonresponsive. In the likely event that your organization uses auto generated and/or preformatted confidentiality statements on letterhead or outgoing e-mails, please include a statement in your letter indicating that the information can be publicly released. If you have concerns about this protocol, please contact us at ExecutiveSecretariat@ntsb.gov. From Pipeline Investigation Report PIR-26-01 “Atmos Energy Corporation Natural Gas Fueled Home Explosions and Fires Jackson, Mississippi January 24, 2024, and January 27, 2024” published on March 26, 2026: 2.4 Ineffective Public Awareness Program Public Awareness Program Effectiveness Affected Public Atmos’s public awareness program’s effectiveness scores indicated that about 62% of the affected public within Atmos distribution areas, including areas in Mississippi, knew that they should leave the area and then call 9-1-1 or the gas company during a suspected natural gas leak. About 37% of those surveyed were unaware of how to safely respond to a suspected natural gas leak. Footnote: As discussed in section 1.9.2, survey percentages are not complete (do not total 100%), likely because of rounding or incomplete responses. Atmos’s public awareness program communication plan required the operator to educate members of the affected public (customers and noncustomers) on safety topics that included how to respond to a suspected natural gas leak. Atmos’s plan required the operator to communicate to customers twice a year and noncustomers once a year through delivery channels such as bill inserts (for customers) and television (for customers and noncustomers). However, several people smelled natural gas odorant before the accidents occurred but were unaware of pipeline safety guidance to respond to the smell of natural gas odorant by evacuating and then immediately calling 9-1-1 or the gas company (Atmos in this case). According to NTSB and Mississippi Public Service Commission interviews, at least three people smelled natural gas odorant on Bristol Boulevard before the accident and were unaware of the need to immediately report it, and at least two people smelled natural gas odorant on Shalimar Drive before the accident and were unaware of the need to immediately report it. Thus, Atmos’s public awareness program was ineffective at educating the public. In addition to this investigation, several NTSB investigations in the last 15 years have determined that the natural gas distribution operator’s public awarene

Addressee Organization Type: P-Private Industry

Communication Date: 2026-06-24

Communication Type: Official Correspondence

Communication Contents: -From John McDill, Senior Vice President Utility Operations: Atmos Energy appreciates the Recommendation to enhance training opportunities for emergency response officials across our distribution system. We share the NTSB’s commitment to public safety and have developed a comprehensive First Responder Engagement & Training Program that addresses the intent of this Recommendation by offering increasing training opportunities, expanding coverage, and implementing an enterprise-wide approach to measure effectiveness. The program builds on efforts made across each of Atmos Energy’s divisions and formalizes on an enterprise-wide basis a structured, risk-based approach to first responder training across all service areas, including: • Continued Engagement: Maintain a current inventory of emergency response agencies within Atmos Energy’s operating areas and conduct ongoing awareness outreach using multiple communication channels. • Risk-Based Prioritization: Identify and prioritize higher-risk jurisdictions and agencies to offer more frequent and targeted training opportunities. • Expanded Training Delivery: Provide training through a layered approach, including in person sessions, tabletop exercises, virtual modules, and short-duration training options to increase accessibility and participation. • Standardized Curriculum: Deliver consistent training covering natural gas properties, leak recognition, response protocols, and coordination with utility personnel, incorporating lessons learned from real-world incidents. The program also includes a framework to evaluate program performance and drive continuous improvement, including: • Participation Tracking: Monitor training at both agency and individual levels across all service areas. • Documentation: Standardize tracking of outreach, training activities, and risk-based prioritization decisions within centralized systems. • Feedback and Evaluation: Use surveys, engagement trends, and after-action reviews to assess effectiveness. • Continuous Improvement: Conduct periodic program reviews and update training materials and delivery methods based on performance and lessons learned. Atmos Energy believes this comprehensive, risk-informed program addresses the NTSB’s Recommendation by providing enterprise-wide coordination to build on ongoing engagement with first responders, evaluating effectiveness of emergency responder training, and establishing a sustainable framework for continuous improvement. Accordingly, we ask the NTSB to close this recommendation as acceptable.