A prominent member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Todd Inman, has revealed he was abruptly dismissed by the Trump administration, with no explanation provided for his termination.
Mr Inman, who played a public role in the investigation into last year’s fatal collision between an airliner and an Army helicopter near Washington D.C., stated on Sunday that he received notice on Friday from the White House personnel office.
The communication informed him that his position on the board was “terminated effective immediately”. He emphasised that he had not yet been given a reason for his firing.
The White House offered no immediate comment when approached by The Associated Press for a response.
Brown and Robert Primus, who served on the U.S. Surface Transportation Board, were the only Black board members overseeing their respective independent agencies when they were fired last year. Both have challenged their firings in court, and the group Democracy Forward has filed discrimination claims on behalf of the men.
When Brown was fired, experts said they couldn’t remember such a firing from the NTSB.
The White House previously has said that Trump was within his legal rights to fire Brown and Primus and that performance, not bias, drove the decisions.
The NTSB is tasked by Congress with investigating aviation accidents and significant rail, highway, pipeline and other disasters to determine their probable causes and make recommendations aimed at avoiding similar incidents. The NTSB currently investigating nearly 1,250 cases.
Inman also was the lead board member of the investigation into last year’s crash of a UPS cargo plane in Kentucky that killed 15 people. After major incidents, the board sends a member to the crash site for initial briefings and to oversee the initial investigation. The January 2025 midair collision between the passenger jet and Army helicopter killed 67 people.
In his statement, Inman said having been the board member on scene “for two of the largest aviation incidents in the past two decades, working with all of the impacted families and first responders has made me appreciate how the original mission of the NTSB is more crucial now than ever before.”
“Witnessing these horrible accidents have undoubtedly taken a toll on me and my family and has changed my perspective in a positive way on how we regulate safety for the traveling public,” he said.
Inman praised the NTSB staff and investigators as “world class.”
“My only hope is that the NTSB leadership and those who control it stay true to its roots and culture as the preeminent safety organization unimpeded by political or personal agendas,” he wrote.
