Bush to nominate acting FAA chief Sturgell to be administrator

WASHINGTON --

A former Topgun Navy fighter pilot who went on to fly commercial jetliners is being nominated to run the Federal Aviation Administration for the next five years.

Now acting FAA administrator, Robert A. Sturgell, 48, who goes by Bobby, will be nominated by President Bush for promotion by Congress to the permanent position.

A lawyer and former official of the National Transportation Safety Board, Sturgell has been deputy FAA administrator since 2003.

"Bobby has worked tirelessly to modernize our nation's air traffic control system," White House press secretary Dana Perino said Tuesday.

"He has over three decades of real world experience in the field."

Before entering government at the transportation safety board, Sturgell was a flight operations supervisor and a line pilot for United Airlines. He flew Boeing 757s and 767s in domestic and international operations.

Earlier, he served as a Navy fighter pilot and was an instructor at the Navy Fighter Weapons School, known as Topgun where the Navy trains its best pilots in advanced air combat tactics. He flew the F-14, F-18, F-16 and A-4 aircraft.

"He shares the president's strong commitment to continuing to preserve the safest period of aviation on record," Perino said. She called on Congress to swiftly confirm him to a full five-year term.

Sturgell moved up from deputy FAA administrator to acting administrator when Marion C. Blakey's term ended on Sept. 13. He had previously served as her senior policy adviser when she headed the National Transportation Safety Board before moving to FAA.

He has also practiced aviation law with the Washington firm of Shaw Pittman.

A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and the University of Virginia law school, Sturgell and his wife, Lynn, have a son and live in Owings, Md.