The deputy chairman of the National Transport Safety Council has been sharply removed from its position, confirmed the White House on Tuesday, a rare move that comes when the federal agency, accused of investigating aviation disasters, juggled more than 1,000 cases.
The Trump administration removed Alvin Brown a little over a year after he swore within the time limit, which was expected to end in 2026. The White House did not say why it was removed and Brown did not comment on public.
The decision comes when NTSB investigates nearly 1,250 active cases in the United States, while supporting more than 160 foreign investigations, according to March’s testimony by NTSB chairman Jennifer Homidi.
Investigations include the deadly clash in the middle between a passenger plane and an army helicopter in Washington, Colombia, which died 67 people in January and the medical transport aircraft, which embarked on a neighborhood in Philadelphia the same month, killing eight people. He also investigated the catastrophic collapse of the Baltimore Bridge Francis Scott Key in March 2024, killing six construction workers.
Jeff Gutseti, a former investigator of NTSB and FAA’s accident, said he had never seen an administration eliminated a member of the Council.
It is known that board members remain then that their term has ended if the administration has not yet appointed anyone and then they leave after the next administration selects someone else, he said.
“It’s happening a lot over the years, but it’s normal and it’s expected because you’ve served your mandate and now it’s time to serve there,” he said. “But that wasn’t. It was just more crazy and directly than the administration and I don’t know what the impetus was.”
By Tuesday night, Brown’s photo and biography had already been removed from the NTSB website.
The agency includes five board members who serve five -year conditions, according to the NTSB website. They are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The chairman and the deputy chairman have been appointed by the President and served for three years. By Tuesday night, the website showed only four board members.
Brown swore as a member of the Council in April 2024 after being nominated by then -President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate to fill one of two vacancies. His term of office is expected to continue in 2026, according to a NTSB press release at the time. He was the only black member of the board.
He was mayor of Jacksonville, Florida, from 2011 to 2015 and joined the board after he was a senior adviser on community infrastructure opportunities for the US Department of Transport, according to the announcement.
NTSB is an independent federal agency responsible for the investigation of all civil aviation accidents, as well as for serious incidents in the United States, including other modes of transport, such as railway disasters and major accidents including motor vehicles, sea ships, pipelines and even commercial space operators.
It usually works on about 2,200 internal and 450 foreign cases each year, according to Homendy. She said she expects “the number of cases to stay tall annually and continue to increase complexity.”
The agency is excluded from the resignation and test officials to reduce the federal workforce. Homendy often presents NTSB as a slender agency that “plays a vital role in ensuring public safety and protection of life and property,” although it demanded a modest increase in budget last and this year.
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The writer of the Associated Press Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, has contributed to this report.