Chealander Leaves NTSB, Joins Airbus-Americas
Today is National Transportation Safety Board Member Steven R. Chealander's last official day on the job. His departure leaves one opening on the presidentially appointed five-member panel. According to NTSB, Chealander has accepted a position in Miami with Airbus-Americas as vice president of technical training.
Chealander has been an NTSB board member since Jan. 3, 2007. During his tenure, he was the board member on scene for three major transportation accident investigations--a mid-air collision between two news helicopters in Phoenix in 2007; the crash of a corporate aircraft in Owatonna, Minn., in 2008; and the crash of a turboprop airliner near Buffalo, N.Y., earlier this month. He testified before the Texas State Senate in April 2007 on sobriety checkpoints, and before the Tennessee House of Representatives in October of that year on drunk driving laws. In April 2008, he testified before a subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee on the NTSB's most-wanted aviation safety issues.
Before joining the board, Chealander was an American Airlines captain and, prior to that, a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot and member of the famous USAF Thunderbirds team. In his Feb.19 resignation letter to President Barack Obama, he said serving with NTSB was "one of the most rewarding experiences of my professional life."