NTSB -- DEBORAH A.P. HERSMAN SWORN IN AS NTSB CHAIRMAN

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NTSB PRESS RELEASE

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National Transportation Safety Board

Washington, DC 20594

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 28, 2009

SB-09-41

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DEBORAH A.P. HERSMAN SWORN IN AS NTSB CHAIRMAN

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Deborah A.P. Hersman, who has been a Member of the National

Transportation Safety Board for 5 years, was sworn in today

as the agency's 12th Chairman.

Hersman was nominated for the two-year term as Chairman by

President Barack Obama on June 18 and confirmed by the

United States Senate on July 24. She was also nominated and

confirmed for a second five-year term as Board Member, which

runs through December 31, 2013.

"The NTSB is an outstanding organization that commands

respect across the globe for its comprehensive

investigations of transportation accidents," Hersman said.

"I am grateful to have this extraordinary opportunity to

lead a talented, dedicated staff to make a world-class

organization even better."

Hersman became a Member of the Safety Board on June 21,

2004. Since then, she has chaired a number of public events

hosted by the Board. In October 2008 she chaired a two-day

public hearing on an accident in Victoria, Texas involving a

motorcoach that did not comply with the Federal Motor

Vehicle Safety Standards. In September 2006, she chaired a

two-day public forum on motorcycle safety. In July 2006,

she chaired a two-day public hearing investigating a fire on

board UPS Airlines flight 1307. She also chaired a three-

day public hearing in June 2005 on a crash involving a

regional jet in Jefferson City, Missouri.

She has been the Board Member on scene at 16 major

transportation accidents, including a freight train

collision and hazardous materials release in Graniteville,

South Carolina in 2005 that killed 9 people; the 2006 crash

of a regional jet in Lexington, Kentucky that killed 49

aboard the jet; the 2006 accident in which a small aircraft

crashed into a high rise apartment building in Manhattan;

the 2007 allision of a container ship with the San

Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge that resulted in major environmental

damage; and, most recently, last month's collision between

two Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority trains

that resulted in 9 fatalities.

Chairman Hersman holds a commercial drivers license with

passenger, school bus, and air brake endorsements. She

successfully completed a motorcycle basic rider course and

holds a motorcycle endorsement. She is a certified Child

Passenger Safety Technician. She has also completed the 40-

hour HAZWOPER (Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency

Response Standard) training course.

Before joining the Board, Chairman Hersman was a Senior

Professional Staff Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on

Commerce, Science and Transportation from 1999 to 2004 where

she was responsible for a number of transportation issues,

and earlier served as Staff Director and Senior Legislative

Aide to Congressman Bob Wise of West Virginia.

Chairman Hersman earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in

Political Science and International Studies from Virginia

Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia, and a Master of

Science degree in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from

George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. She is

married and is the mother of three sons.

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NTSB Press Contact: Ted Lopatkiewicz

(202) 314-6100

lopatt@xxxxxxxx

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