Hart Sworn in as NTSB Chair
"I am very grateful for this opportunity to lead this dynamic agency that is dedicated to improving transportation safety," Hart said. "I have been involved in transportation safety for more than 30 years, and the NTSB truly sets the bar higher for continued safety improvement."
Christopher A. Hart, the acting chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, was sworn as the 13th chairman of the board March 17 by Chief Administrative Law Judge Alfonso Montano. President Obama nominated Hart to serve as chairman in January 2015, and the U.S. Senate confirmed him on March 12. He's been serving as acting chairman since April 26, 2014.
Before becoming acting chairman, he served as vice chairman and a member of the board since 2009; he also served as a member of the board from 1990 to 1993.
"I am very grateful for this opportunity to lead this dynamic agency that is dedicated to improving transportation safety," Hart said. "I have been involved in transportation safety for more than 30 years, and the NTSB truly sets the bar higher for continued safety improvement." He is an aerospace engineer, attorney, and licensed pilot with commercial, multi-engine, and instrument ratings. His great uncle, James Herman Banning, was the first African-American to receive a pilot's license issued by the U.S. government.
Hart was deputy administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration before moving to the Federal Aviation Administration in 1995 during his hiatus from NTSB. He served as the FAA assistant administrator for System Safety and then became deputy director for Air Traffic Safety Oversight before returning to the board in 2009. Hart has a law degree from Harvard Law School and master's and bachelor's degrees in Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University.