(The NTSB issued the following statement by John A. Hammerschmidt on March 21.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As many of you know, today is my last day after 18 years at the National Transportation Safety Board, the last 12 as a Member of the Board.
I have been deeply honored to have served at the Board under four Presidents. In that time, I have seen an already well respected agency become an acknowledged world leader in accident investigation and safety advocacy. In the time I’ve been at the Board, we have seen great strides toward the elimination of mid-air collisions and windshear accidents in the airline industry, in occupant protection in railroad and highway transportation, in reducing excavation damage to buried pipelines, and in operator training and the use of child flotation devices in recreational boating – just to name a few achievements. Dozens of other improvements come to mind in every mode of transportation.
The NTSB has been at the forefront in all of these safety initiatives.
I want to thank the hundreds of Safety Board staff with whom I’ve had the pleasure to work, and the other Members of the Board with whom I’ve been privileged to serve. I will always cherish the time I had working at what I consider the finest agency of the federal government.