Unexpected removal of Vice Chair from National Transportation Safety Board position
LOOSE CANNON AT NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARDThe Trump administration recently booted Alvin Brown, Vice Chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), from his position, making waves in the federal agency responsible for investigating transportation disasters.
You betchya, just over a year since Brown swore in for a six-year term scheduled to end in 2026, and with not a peep from the White House or Brown himself about the reasons behind his departure.
With the NTSB juggling an overload of more than 1,000 active cases across the US and supporting foreign investigations too[5], it seems like a funny time to shuffle the deck chairs. The investigations on their plate range from a tragic midair collision between a passenger jet and Army helicopter in Washington D.C., which claimed 67 lives in January, to a medical transport plane plummeting into a Philadelphia neighborhood in the same month, taking eight lives, and the catastrophic collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge in March 2024, which proved fatal for six construction workers[6].
Former NTSB and FAA accident investigator Jeff Guzzetti, who's seen more White House election cycles than he'd care to remember, couldn't recall an administration booting a member of the board before[7]. Usually, board members stay on past their term if the admin's yet to name a replacement, and they split once the new one comes along. But this ain't that kind of departure, it's more sudden and mysterious than that.
By Tuesday evening, Brown's smug mug and bio had already vanished from the NTSB's website after the news broke. The agency comprises five board members who serve five-year terms, and they're nominated by the prez and confirmed by the Senate, with the chairman and vice chairman designated by the president serving for three years[8]. With Brown gone, the site only shows four members of the board.
Brown, a Democrat, joined the NTSB after serving as senior advisor for community infrastructure opportunities at the U.S. Department of Transportation[8]. Before that, he was mayor of Jacksonville, Florida, from 2011 to 2015[8].
The NTSB is the federal agency responsible for investigating civil aviation accidents, as well as serious incidents in other modes of transportation like railroad disasters, motor vehicle accidents, marine vessel accidents, pipeline incidents, and even commercial space launches[9]. On average, they tackle around 2,200 domestic and 450 foreign cases each year[9].
Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy expects the number of cases to remain high and grow in complexity[9]. Despite being excluded from the deferred resignation program and probationary employee cuts meant to slim down the federal workforce, Homendy maintains the NTSB is a lean agency working hard to ensure public safety[9]. She asked for modest budget increases in 2024 and 2025.
- The Chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Jennifer Homendy, anticipates an increased number of transportation investigations in the future due to their complexity.
- In 2024, Seattle was not spared from a tragic event as the catastrophic collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge had implications that reached far beyond its initial location, claiming six lives.
- A Democrat with a background in transportation, Alvin Brown, departed from his position as Vice Chair of the NTSB in a sudden and mysterious manner, leaving policy-and-legislation, politics, and general news outlets speculating about the reasons behind his departure.
- The investigative responsibility of the NTSB extends to incidents in various modes of transportation, including civil aviation accidents, railroad disasters, motor vehicle accidents, marine vessel accidents, pipeline incidents, and even commercial space launches, making them a critical player in transportation safety.
- As per the NTSB's policies, the agency consists of five board members who serve five-year terms, and they are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, with the chairman and vice chairman designated by the president for three-year tenures, which allows for efficient oversight and policy decisions in the realm of transportation safety and investigations.
