NBAA Thanks NTSB Chair Hersman For Her Valued Service Promoting Transportation Safety

National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) President and CEO Ed Bolen today issued the following statement in response to the announcement by Deborah Hersman that she will be stepping down as chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to become president and CEO of the National Safety Council (NSC).

“NBAA congratulates Chairman Hersman on her nearly 10 years of valued service and leadership with the NTSB. During her tenure at the board, NBAA enjoyed an excellent working relationship with her, and with the board’s professional staff. She always worked closely with NBAA to understand the specific operating needs of business aviation, and find ways to work to enhance safety in that context. We thank her for her professionalism, her fair-mindedness and her continuing readiness to maintain an open dialogue with NBAA and the industry, and we wish her well in her new role advocating for safety at the NSC.”  

Hersman was sworn in as the 35th member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on June 21, 2004. While on the board, was on scene at dozens of major transportation accidents. Before joining the NTSB, 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 the legislative agenda and policy initiatives affecting surface transportation issues. Prior to that appointment, she served as staff director and senior legislative aide to former Rep. Bob Wise (D-2-WV) from 1992 to 1999.

Over the course of her term at NTSB, Hersman served as keynote speaker at NBAA’s 2011 Convention in Las Vegas, NV. Before that, she spoke with NBAA in 2009 for a profile in the Association’s bimonthly magazine, Business Aviation Insider. Read Hersman’s Business Aviation Insider profile in its entirety.