Served As Lead Investigator On USAir 427 Accident

National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Mark V. Rosenker named Thomas E. Haueter Director of the agency's Office of Aviation Safety on Thursday. He has served as Acting Director of the office since November 2006.

"I'm pleased to announce Tom's appointment as the head of our aviation safety operations," Chairman Rosenker said. "He has proved his ability and leadership qualities over his 23 years at the Board. As an Investigator-in-Charge, he led some of our most sensitive and complex investigations -- most notably the crash of a Boeing 737 near Pittsburgh, which resulted in the redesign of rudder actuators for the most popular airline model in the world."

Haueter was an airworthiness investigator before being named an Investigator-in-Charge. In addition to the USAir Flight 427 accident near Pittsburgh in September 1994, Haueter led the investigations into the crash of a commuter airliner in Brunswick, GA which claimed the lives of all 23 persons aboard, including former Senator John Tower; and the midair collision that claimed the life of Senator John Heinz.

He was also the US Accredited Representative for the crash of a Boeing 737 in Panama, and was the lead NTSB investigator assisting the U.S. Air Force in the investigation of the airplane that crashed near Dubrovnik, Croatia, killing an American trade delegation led by Commerce Secretary Ron Brown.

Haueter's private sector experience includes work with Pratt & Whitney Engines as a structures engineer in gas turbine engine design.

Haueter earned an MBA in Operations Research and International Business from George Mason University, and a BS in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from Purdue University. He holds a commercial pilot's license with multi-engine and instrument ratings, and regularly flies a 1943 Stearman airplane that he restored.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov