National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Mark V. Rosenker today named Thomas E. Haueter Director of the agency's Office of Aviation Safety. He has served as Acting Director of the office since November 2006.
"I'm pleased to announce Tom's appointment as the head of our aviation safety operations," Chairman Rosenker said. "He has proved his ability and leadership qualities over his 23 years at the Board. As an Investigator-in-Charge, he led some of our most sensitive and complex investigations - most notably the crash of a Boeing 737 near Pittsburgh, which resulted in the redesign of rudder actuators for the most popular airline model in the world."
Haueter was an airworthiness investigator before being named an Investigator-in-Charge. In addition to the 737 accident near Pittsburgh, Haueter led the investigations into the crash of a commuter airliner in Brunswick, Georgia, which claimed the lives of all 23 persons aboard, including former Senator John Tower; and the midair collision that claimed the life of Senator John Heinz. He was the U.S. Accredited Representative for the crash of a Boeing 737 in Panama, and was the lead NTSB investigator assisting the U.S. Air Force in the investigation of the airplane that crashed near Dubrovnik, Croatia, killing an American trade delegation led by Commerce Secretary Ron Brown.
Haueter's private sector experience includes work with Pratt & Whitney Engines as a structures engineer in gas turbine engine design.
Haueter earned an MBA in Operations Research and International Business from George Mason University, and a BS in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from Purdue University. He holds a commercial pilot's license with multi-engine and instrument ratings, and regularly flies a 1943 Stearman airplane that he restored. He lives with his wife, Trisha, in Great Falls, Virginia.
Visit the NTSB website at www.ntsb.gov.
