The NTSB Board

The Board

The NTSB has five Board Members, each nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate to serve 5-year terms. The President designates a Board Member as Chairman and another as Vice Chairman for 3-year terms. The Chairman requires separate Senate confirmation. When there is no designated Chairman, the Vice Chairman serves in an acting capacity.

Honorable Jennifer Homendy Chairwoman

Honorable Michael E. Graham Member

Honorable Thomas B. Chapman Member

Honorable John DeLeeuw Member

Jennifer Homendy

Jennifer L. Homendy is the 15th Chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), an independent federal agency charged by Congress with investigating every civil aviation accident in the United States and significant events in other modes of transportation, including rail, transit, roadway, marine, pipeline, and commercial space. She is the fourth woman to serve as NTSB Chairwoman since the agency was created in 1967.

Homendy has served at the NTSB since 2018. She was first nominated by President Trump and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2018 (to serve a one-year vacancy) and again in 2019 (for a full five-year term) to be a Board Member. In 2021, she was nominated by President Biden and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be Chairwoman.

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Michael E. Graham

Michael Graham took the oath of office as the 45th Member of the National Transportation Safety Board on January 3, 2020.

Before coming to the NTSB, Member Graham was with Textron Aviation, Inc. (Cessna/Hawker/Beechcraft) from 1997 to 2019. Since 2012 he served as their Director of Flight Operations Safety, Security & Standardization and was responsible for the safe and secure operations of all domestic and international flights conducted in support of the company. The scope of his responsibility included managing the flight operation’s Safety Management System and its certification, administering the Emergency Response Plan, supervising Air Safety Investigations, and overseeing two company airports and a control tower.

Mr. Graham joined Cessna as a Demonstration Pilot and held positi...

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Thomas B. Chapman

Thomas B. Chapman took the oath of office as the 46th Member of the National Transportation Safety Board on January 6, 2020. Member Chapman has spoken extensively on the Safe System Approach to highway traffic safety, alcohol and drug impairment, and rail worker and highway-rail grade crossing safety.

Prior to joining the Board, Member Chapman served six years as minority counsel to the Senate Subcommittee on Aviation & Space. He engaged in a broad range of issues, including the bipartisan effort to pass comprehensive legislation reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration, the Transportation Security Administration, and the NTSB. In total, Member Chapman has four decades of experience in government, legislative, and regulatory affairs in the transportation industry.

Member Chapm...

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John DeLeeuw

John DeLeeuw took the oath of office as the 49th member of NTSB on March 16, 2026.

Member DeLeeuw brings more than three decades of experience in aviation operations, safety management, and accident investigation.

Before joining NTSB, Member DeLeeuw served as managing director of safety and efficiency at American Airlines, where he oversaw the airline’s safety assurance programs, including Flight Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA), Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP), Line Operations Safety Audit (LOSA), fatigue risk management, and other initiatives supporting the airline’s safety management system. He also led air safety investigations and emergency planning and response activities.

Over his 33-year flying career, Member DeLeeuw has accumulated more than 19,000 flight hours...

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