NTSB -- MEMBER KATHRYN O'LEARY HIGGINS TO LEAVE NTSB

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NTSB PRESS RELEASE

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National Transportation Safety Board

Washington, DC 20594

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 20, 2009

SB-09-39

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MEMBER KATHRYN O’LEARY HIGGINS TO LEAVE NTSB

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National Transportation Safety Board Member Kathryn (Kitty) O’Leary Higgins

today submitted to President Obama her resignation from the Board, effective

August 3.

In her letter to the President, Higgins said, “I have loved the chance to

work with incredibly dedicated public servants who are passionate about the

challenge of making our highways, airlines, railroads, and waterways safe for

everyone.”

Higgins said she is leaving the Board to pursue opportunities in the private

sector.

Higgins joined the Board on January 3, 2006. During her tenure at the NTSB,

she was the Board Member on scene at several major accident investigations,

including the Blue Line derailment in Chicago in July 2006; the May 2008

collision of two light rail trains in Newton, Massachusetts; the August 2008

crash of a firefighters’ helicopter in Weaverville, California that killed 9;

the September 2008 collision of a commuter train with a freight train in

Chatsworth, California that killed 25; and the ditching of a US Airways

airliner in the Hudson River in January 2009. She also chaired the Safety

Board’s hearing into the fire aboard a motor coach in Wilmer, Texas that

killed 23 elderly patients being evacuated from the path of Hurricane Rita.

Among the government positions Higgins held before coming to the NTSB were

Deputy Secretary of Labor, Acting Chair of the National Endowment of the

Arts, Vice Chair of the Presidential Commission on U.S. Coast Guard Roles and

Missions, and Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary.

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NTSB Press Contact: Ted Lopatkiewicz

(202) 314-6100

lopatt@xxxxxxxx

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