HONORABLE ROBERT L. SUMWALT
MEMBER

Robert L. Sumwalt was sworn in as the 37th Member of the National Transportation Safety Board on August 21, 2006, whereupon President Bush designated him as Vice Chairman of the Board for a two-year term, ending August 2008. His term of office as a Board Member will run until December 31, 2011.

Prior to coming to the Board, Mr. Sumwalt was Manager of Aviation for the SCANA Corporation, a Fortune 500 energy-based company.

Mr. Sumwalt was a pilot for 32 years, including 24 years as an airline pilot with Piedmont Airlines and then US Airways. He logged over 14,000 flight hours and earned type ratings in five aircraft before retiring from the airline in 2005. He has extensive experience as an airline captain, airline check airman, instructor pilot and air safety representative.

Mr. Sumwalt worked on special assignment to the US Airways Flight Safety Department from 1997 to 2004, where he was involved in the development of numerous airline safety programs. From 2002 to 2004, he served on the US Airways Flight Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA) Monitoring Team.

Mr. Sumwalt served as a member of the Air Line Pilots Association's (ALPA) Accident Investigation Board from 2002 to 2004, and he chaired ALPA's Human Factors and Training Group. He was a co-founder of that organization's Critical Incident Response Program, which provides guidance to airline personnel involved in traumatic events such as accidents.

A trained accident investigator, Mr. Sumwalt participated in several NTSB investigations prior to joining the Safety Board.

From 1991 to 1999, Mr. Sumwalt conducted aviation safety research as a consultant to NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System, studying various issues including flight crew performance and air carrier de-icing and anti-icing problems.

Mr. Sumwalt co-authored a book on aircraft accidents and has written extensively on aviation safety matters, having published over 85 articles and papers in aviation trade publications.  He has broad experience in writing aircraft operations manuals and airline and corporate aviation policy and procedure guidelines. Before joining the Board, he was a regular contributor to Professional Pilot magazine.

In 2003, Mr. Sumwalt joined the faculty of the University of Southern California's Aviation Safety and Security Program, where he was the primary human factors instructor.

In recognition of his contributions to the aviation industry, Mr. Sumwalt received the Flight Safety Foundation's Laura Taber Barbour Award in 2003 and ALPA's Air Safety Award in 2004.

Since joining the Board, Member Sumwalt served as the Chairman of the Board of Inquiry for the Safety Board's June 2009 public hearing for the accident involving US Airways flight 1549, the Airbus A320 that made a forced landing on the Hudson River in January 2009. He also served as Chairman of the Board of Inquiry for the Safety Board’s   2009 public hearing regarding emergency medical services (EMS) helicopters.

Additionally, he has served as the Member on-scene for the following accidents: the emergency medical services (EMS) helicopter accident that claimed three lives in Georgetown, South Carolina, September 25, 2009; the June 19, 2009 CN train derailment at a grade crossing at Rockford, Illinois, which resulted in the explosion and burning of several ethanol tank cars; the December 20, 2008, accident involving Continental Airlines flight 1404, a Boeing 737-500 that departed a runway during takeoff roll at the Denver International Airport, and caught fire; a collision between an Amtrak passenger train and a standing Norfolk Southern freight train in Chicago, Illinois, November 30, 2007; a liquid propane pipeline rupture and explosion in Carmichael, Mississippi, November 1, 2007; an aviation accident in which a twin-engine Cessna 310R airplane impacted homes in a residential area in Sanford, Florida, July 10, 2007; and the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train in New Brighton, Pennsylvania, October 20, 2006.  Mr. Sumwalt also accompanied the NTSB Go-Team to Lexington, Kentucky for the on-site investigation of the August 27, 2006 crash of Comair flight 5191.

Mr. Sumwalt is a graduate of the University of South Carolina.