HONORABLE DEBORAH A. P. HERSMAN
CHAIRMAN

Deborah A. P. Hersman was sworn in as the 12th Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board on July 28, 2009, following her nomination to the post by President Barack Obama and confirmation by the United States Senate.  Her two-year term as Chairman runs until July 2011.  She is also serving a second 5-year term as a Board Member, which expires on December 31, 2013.

Chairman Hersman has been a Member of the NTSB since June 21, 2004.  Since then, she has chaired a number of public events hosted by the Board.  In October 2008 she chaired a two-day public hearing on an accident in Victoria, Texas involving a motorcoach that did not comply with the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.  In September 2006, she chaired a two-day public forum on motorcycle safety.  In July 2006, she chaired a two-day public hearing investigating a fire on board UPS Airlines flight 1307.  She also chaired a three- day public hearing in June 2005 on a crash involving a regional jet in Jefferson City, Missouri.

During her tenure at the Board, she has been the Member on the scene of 17 major transportation accidents:

• August 2009 – mid air collision involving a sightseeing helicopter and a single engine plane over the Hudson River that killed all 9 persons aboard the two aircraft;
• June 2009 – collision of two Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority trains in Washington, D.C. that killed 9 people;
• May 2009 – collision of two MBTA light rail passenger trains in Boston, Massachusetts;
• April 2009 – allision of a 22-ft recreational vessel with a barge in the intracoastal waterway near Palm Valley, Florida;
• September 2008 – crash of a Maryland State Police EMS helicopter in Forestville, Maryland;
• September 2008 – crash of a business jet in Columbia, South Carolina;
• August 2008 – crash of a chartered motorcoach in Sherman, TX, that killed 17 passengers;
• November 2007 – allision of a container ship with the San Francisco Bay Bridge resulting in the release of 58,000 gallons of fuel;
• August 2007 – crash of a chartered floatplane in Ketchikan, Alaska;
• November 2006 – school bus crash in Huntsville, Alabama;
• October 2006 – crash of a private aircraft carrying two persons, including major league baseball player Cory Lidle, into an apartment building in New York City; 
• August 2006 – crash of a commercial aircraft in Lexington, Kentucky that killed 49 people aboard;
• July 2005 – head-on collision of two freight trains at Anding, Mississippi;
• April 2005 – collision of a school bus with a trash truck in Arlington, Virginia;
• February 2005 – crash of a chartered aircraft into an airport warehouse at Teterboro, NJ;
• January 2005 – freight train collision and hazardous material release in Graniteville, SC;
• November 2004 – collision of two Washington Metro trains at the Woodley Park Station in Washington, D.C.

Chairman Hersman holds a commercial drivers license with passenger, school bus, and air brake endorsements.  She successfully completed a motorcycle basic rider course and holds a motorcycle endorsement.  She is a certified Child Passenger Safety Technician.  She has also completed the 40- hour HAZWOPER (Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response Standard) training course.

Before joining the Board, Chairman Hersman was a Senior Professional Staff Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation from 1999 to 2004 where she was responsible for a number of transportation issues, and earlier served as Staff Director and Senior Legislative Aide to Congressman Bob Wise of West Virginia.

During her time at the Senate, she was a key staff member involved in the passage of the Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999, which created a new truck and bus safety administration within the Department of Transportation.  She also worked extensively to negotiate the passage of the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002; the Transportation Equity Act of the 21st Century; the Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act and numerous transportation safety and security measures.

Chairman Hersman earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in Political Science and International Studies from Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia, and a Master of Science degree in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.  She is married and is the mother of three sons.