Employed by the NTSB for 21 years. He has worked as an airworthiness investigator, an Investigator-in-Charge (IIC) of domestic aviation accidents, and as the U.S. Accredited Representative for foreign aviation accidents. He is the Deputy Director of the Office of Aviation Safety and the Chief of the Major Investigations Division. He is responsible of the investigation of all major domestic aviation accidents and the NTSB support of major foreign aviation accidents. He was the IIC for the investigation of the USAir flight 427 accident, the IIC for the Eastwind flight 527 incident, and the U.S. Accredited Representative on the accident involving a COPA Airlines Boeing 737 that was documented in the Public Broadcasting television show NOVA. He was the IIC on the accident involving an Atlantic Southeast Airlines Embraer 120 at Brunswick, Georgia, that claimed the life of Senator John Tower and for the midair collision at Philadelphia that claimed the life of Senator Heinz. Additionally, he was the lead NTSB investigator assisting the U.S. Air Force in the investigation of the CT-43A that crashed near Dubrovnik, Croatia, killing then Commerce Secretary Ron Brown and 22 others.

Prior to joining the Safety Board, he was the deputy manager/program manager of a research and development group for an engineering and professional services corporation. Additional experience includes development and assessment of composite material structures, airframe design and testing, gas turbine engine design, and assessments of emerging technologies.

Educational background includes an MBA in Operations Research and International Business from George Mason University, and a BS Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from Purdue University. He holds a commercial pilots license with multi-engine and instrument rating, and regularly flies a 1943 Stearman airplane that he restored.

Mr. DeLisi is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a degree in Aerospace Engineering, and has done graduate work in Engineering Management at Washington University in St. Louis. He spent 10 years with the McDonnell Douglas Corporation as a Flight Test Engineer, where he was involved in flight test programs on the F-15 and F/A-18 fighter aircraft. Mr. DeLisi also holds a Private Pilot Certificate.

Mr. DeLisi joined the National Transportation Safety Board thirteen years ago as an aircraft systems engineer/investigator. He served as the Systems Group Chairman on 20 major airline accident investigations and as a technical advisor on 5 international airline accident investigations. Mr. DeLisi has authored safety recommendation letters that have led to improvements on air carrier airplanes including the B737, B747, B757, B767, A300, and A320. For the past 5 years, Mr. DeLisi served as the Chief of the Aviation Engineering Division, where he oversaw the Board's staff of structures, systems, and powerplants engineers. In 2005, he was named the Chief of the Major Investigations Division, where he now oversees the Investigators-in-Charge of all major aircraft accident investigations. He has twice been nominated for the NTSB's Dr. John Lauber award for technical excellence in accident investigation, and was the 2004 winner of the Managing Director's Award for management excellence.

Vern Ellingstad is Director of the Office of Research and Engineering at the National Transportation Safety Board and in that capacity supervises the Board's laboratories, computer and engineering services, safety studies, data analysis, and information management activities. The Office of Research and Engineering provides scientific, technical and engineering support to accident investigations in all transportation modes. He joined the Safety Board in June, 1990 as Deputy Director of the Office of Research and Engineering.

Dr. Ellingstad had previously served as Professor of Psychology, Chairman of the Psychology Department, and Director of the Human Factors Laboratory at the University of South Dakota. During his academic career he was involved in a variety of transportation research including laboratory and on-the-road studies of driver performance, as well as program evaluation studies of the US Department of Transportation's Alcohol Safety Action Projects. His research in the University of South Dakota Human Factors Laboratory also focused on a variety of human factors issues in information displays for computer controlled systems.

Dr. Ellingstad received his Ph.D. degree in Human Factors Psychology from the University of South Dakota in 1969 and his B.A. degree in Psychology from the Wisconsin State University at Eau Claire in 1965. He is a member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, the American Psychological Society, and the American Psychological Association.

Mr. English is an Air Safety Investigator-in-Charge in the Major Investigations Division of the Office of Aviation Safety. He has been with the NTSB since 1999, and prior to becoming an IIC he was in the Operational Factors Division as an Air Traffic Investigator. He has served as Investigator in Charge on a Bombardier Challenger accident in Teterboro, New Jersey, and as the US Accredited Representative on a Bombardier Regional Jet accident in China. He was a group chairman for numerous domestic and foreign investigations including the Egyptair 767 accident in 1999, a fatal runway collision in Florida, and a midair collision between two transport jets in Germany. He worked for the FAA for 13 years as a controller and quality assurance specialist, and in the development of GPS procedures. While with the FAA he assisted the Board in numerous investigations including TWA800. He is a certified instrument flight instructor in single and multi-engine airplanes and held numerous flying positions. Prior to joining the Board he was also contributing editor to IFR Magazine. Mr. English is a graduate of Embry-Riddle University.