Two New Members Bring NTSB Board To Full Complement

NTSB board members

NTSB board members (l-r) Thomas Chapman, J. Todd Inman, Jennifer Homendy, Alvin Brown, and Michael Graham. 

Credit: NTSB

Alvin Brown and J. Todd Inman were sworn in as new members of the NTSB on April 8, bringing the safety board to its full complement of five members.

Both men were nominated by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to fill existing vacancies on the board. Brown succeeds Robert Sumwalt for a term expiring on Dec. 31, 2026. Inman succeeds Bruce Landsberg for a term that runs through 2027.

A Democrat, Brown previously served as senior adviser for community infrastructure opportunities with the U.S. Transportation Department and from 2011-2015 as the mayor of Jacksonville, Florida. He earlier served as executive director of the White House Community Empowerment Board and as a senior adviser to former Commerce Secretary Ron Brown.

Inman, a Republican, most recently worked for APCO, a public affairs and strategic communications firm, and previously served as secretary of the Florida Department of Management Services. He was also a senior adviser and chief of staff to former U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.

Among earlier roles, Inman worked as an independent contractor agent for insurance company State Farm and served in the special investigative unit of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance. He was also an instructor for the National Fire Academy arson detection program for first responders.

The NTSB has been functioning with three board members since Landsburg departed in December 2023. Brown and Inman join Board Chair Jennifer Homendy (D), Thomas Chapman (D) and Michael Graham (R) as members.

Bill Carey

Bill covers business aviation and advanced air mobility for Aviation Week Network. A former newspaper reporter, he has also covered the airline industry, military aviation, commercial space and unmanned aircraft systems. He is the author of 'Enter The Drones, The FAA and UAVs in America,' published in 2016.