National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Member J. Todd Inman speaks with journalists in the aftermath of the crash of American Eagle Flight 5342 and a Black Hawk helicopter into the Potomac River at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., January 31, 2025.
Eduardo Muñoz | Reuters
The National Transportation Safety Board member who was the public face of the investigation into last year’s deadly crash involving a passenger plane and an Army helicopter near the nation’s capital announced Sunday that he has been fired by the Trump administration without explanation.
Todd Inman said in a statement Friday that he received notice from the White House Office of Human Resources that his position on the board is “terminating with immediate effect.” He said he has not yet received a reason for his dismissal.
The White House did not immediately respond to a message left by The Associated Press seeking comment.
The NTSB has five directors, but its website on Sunday listed only three. Alvin Brown, vice chairman of the board, was suddenly fired last year.
Brown Primus and Robert Primus, who served on the U.S. Surface Transportation Board, were the only black committee members overseeing their respective independent agencies when they were fired last year. Both men are challenging their dismissals in court, and a group called Democracy Forward filed a discrimination lawsuit on their behalf.
When Brown was fired, experts said they could not recall any such firing from the NTSB.
The White House has previously said Trump had the legal right to fire Brown and Primus and that performance, not bias, influenced the decision.
The NTSB is tasked by Congress with investigating aviation accidents and major rail, highway, pipeline, and other disasters, determining possible causes, and making recommendations to avoid similar accidents. The NTSB is currently investigating approximately 1,250 cases.
Inman was also the lead investigator in the investigation into last year’s UPS cargo plane crash in Kentucky, which killed 15 people. When a serious accident occurs, the committee sends members to the crash site for an initial briefing and to supervise the initial investigation. In January 2025, a mid-air collision between a passenger plane and an army helicopter killed 67 people.
“Having served as field director for two of the largest aviation accidents in the past 20 years, working with affected families and all first responders, has shown me that the NTSB’s original mission is more important than ever,” Inman said in a statement.
“Witnessing these horrific accidents has definitely hit me and my family hard and positively changed my perspective on how to regulate public safety while traveling,” he said.
Inman praised the NTSB staff and investigators as “world class.”
“My only hope is that the NTSB leadership and those who manage it remain true to their roots and culture as a preeminent safety organization, unencumbered by political or personal agendas,” he wrote.
