The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on Tuesday voted 14-13 to advance the nomination of John DeLeeuw to serve as a member of the National Transportation Safety Board. Now, the selection will move to the full Senate for consideration.
The vote followed a markup in which several transportation-related nominations were taken up, including DeLeeuw’s, which was bundled with other nominees and approved over objections from some committee members regarding the process.
DeLeeuw, a Boeing 787 captain at American Airlines, was nominated last year by U.S. President Donald Trump to fill a vacant seat on the five-member safety board. He has logged more than 19,000 flight hours and currently serves as managing director of safety and efficiency at American, according to biographical information released with the nomination. He previously flew C-130 aircraft in the U.S. Air Force and has worked closely with the NTSB for more than a decade in a party coordinator role during investigations.
NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said she welcomed the nomination when it was announced in September.
“John’s going to be an excellent addition to the board, if confirmed,” Homendy told Reuters at the time. “We’re very excited about the nomination, and we’ll be working with him through the process.”
If confirmed by the Senate, DeLeeuw would join the board as it continues investigations into several high-profile aviation accidents and oversees safety recommendations across all modes of transportation.
