The White House has removed the vice chair of the independent National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), The Hill learned Tuesday.
Vice Chair Alvin Brown was pulled out of the NTSB Monday, according to Reuters reporting that was confirmed by a White House official to The Hill. On the NTSB’s website, he no longer appears among the listed board members despite being there last Friday in an archived version of the webpage of the board.
Brown, a former Jacksonville, Fla., mayor, became a part of the NTSB in March 2024. Former President Biden appointed him as the board’s vice chair late last year.
Brown’s removal comes amid heightened concern over aviation safety after multiple notable aircraft crashes and safety incidents in recent months, including a deadly collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport between an American Airlines flight and an Army helicopter.
Last Friday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy went after the Defense Department in the wake of an Army helicopter forcing two commercial passenger jets that were landing at National Airport to change course.
“Unacceptable. Our helicopter restrictions around DCA are crystal clear. In addition to investigations from @NTSB and @FAANews, I’ll be talking to the @DeptofDefense to ask why the hell our rules were disregarded,” Duffy said in a post on the social platform X last week.
