The vice chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, who was appointed to the post by President Joe Biden late last year, has been fired, a senior White House official confirmed to CBS News.
Alvin Brown’s ouster happened Tuesday. Brown, a Democrat who was the first African American elected mayor of Jacksonville, Florida, was appointed by Biden as the NTSB’s vice chair in December. Brown joined the five-person board earlier in 2024, being sworn in on the same day as Todd Inman, a Republican who was also appointed by Biden.
The NTSB is an independent agency with board members appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate to serve five-year terms. The president designates the chair and vice chair for three-year terms in those roles. The chair requires a separate Senate confirmation.
Brown’s firing comes amid other Trump administration dismissals of other Democratic members of independent agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission and National Labor Relations Board.
Bryan Olin Dozier/Anadolu via Getty Images 
The move leaves the NTSB with four board members — Inman along with Chair Jennifer Homendy, Michael Graham and Thomas Chapman — who were all appointed by President Trump during his first term in office. Homendy was appointed as the board’s chair by Biden.
The NTSB investigates all fatal general aviation accidents, including commercial accidents and incidents, as well as significant accidents across the various modes of transportation as well as pipeline accidents. The board does not have regulatory authority. Instead, it determines the probable cause of those accidents and makes safety recommendations to avoid similar ones in the future.
The board is currently investigating a host of aviation accidents, including January’s deadly midair collision over Washington, D.C., multiple fatal small plane crashes and last year’s blowout of an Alaska Airlines door panel midflight.
The NTSB declined to comment, directing inquiries to the White House.
Brown’s departure was first reported by Reuters.
contributed to this report.
