One Day After Board Member Kathryn Higgins Resigns
More turnover is coming to the NTSB. After leading the
National Transportation Safety Board for four and a half years,
Mark V. Rosenker has announced that he will resign his position as
Acting Chairman and Member. He submitted his letter of resignation
to President Obama Tuesday, just one day after Board Member Kathryn
Higgins turned in a similar
letter.
Rosenker said he will delay his departure until a new Chairman
and an additional Board Member are confirmed to ensure a quorum
remains at the Board.
In his letter to the President, Rosenker said that the
opportunity to serve in and lead the NTSB "has been the highlight
of my entire 40-year professional life. It is an agency that truly
makes a positive difference every day, saving lives by preventing
accidents, not only in our great Nation, but around the world."
Rosenker became a Member and the Vice Chairman of the NTSB in
March 2003 and became Acting Chairman two years later. He was sworn
in as the 11th Chairman of the Safety Board in August 2006, and was
renominated by President Bush for a second term as Chairman in
October 2007.
During his Chairmanship of the Board, the agency marked a number
of major transportation safety achievements. In aviation, the Board
removed Airliner Fuel Tank Flammability when the Federal Aviation
Administration announced a new requirement for inerting fuel
systems in newly manufactured airliners.
Under his leadership, the Safety Board added important issues to
the Most Wanted list to reflect new safety priorities, including
Emergency Medical Helicopter Safety, Cell Phone Use by Bus Drivers,
Highway Vehicle Anti- collision Technology, On-board Highway
Vehicle Recorders, and School Bus Passenger Safety.
Chairman Rosenker also improved the Safety Board's financial
posture. Among fiscal improvements, he ensured that the NTSB
Training Center - which was renamed from the previous NTSB Academy
to better reflect the internal training mission of the facility -
reduce the operational cost burden to the taxpayer through course
fees, short-term rentals and long- term subleases.
During his tenure at the Board, the NTSB was presented with new
investigative challenges. Among there were a public forum held
to bring to the aviation community a broad understanding of
the growing Unmanned Aircraft Systems industry, and its more than
3-year investigation into the crash of American Airlines flight 587
in New York provided a new understanding of the consequences of
excessive rudder manipulations in transport category airplanes.
Mark Rosenker
He has been the Board Member on scene for the Safety Board's
investigations on many occasions, including the October 2005
capsizing of the passenger vessel Ethan Allen in Lake George, New
York that claimed 20 lives; the December 2005 crash of a seaplane
in Miami that killed all 20 persons aboard; the August 2007
collapse of an Interstate highway bridge in Minneapolis that killed
13 motorists who were crossing the bridge at the time of the
collapse; the June 2008 midair collision of two emergency medical
helicopters in Flagstaff, Arizona; and the March 2009 crash of a
single- engine plane in Butte, Montana that killed all 14 persons
aboard.
In March 2007, Rosenker chaired the NTSB's public forum
promoting runway safety, held on the 30th anniversary of the
deadliest aviation accident in history, a runway collision in the
Canary Islands. In May of this year, he chaired the Board's public
hearing into the crash of a regional airliner near Buffalo, New
York that killed 50 people.
Rosenker is a retired Major General in the Air Force Reserve. He
intends to pursue opportunities in the private sector.