Trump Nominates American Airlines Pilot for NTSB

John DeLeeuw picked to fill vacant seat on National Transportation Safety Board.

Caleb Revill

Thursday, September 11, 2025 at 05:19 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

National Transportation Safety Board team members survey the wreckage recovered from the Bell 206 L-4 helicopter that crashed into the Hudson River on April 10 near New York City. [Courtesy: NTSB]

Key Takeaways:

President Donald Trump nominated American Airlines pilot and safety director John DeLeeuw to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
DeLeeuw is set to replace Alvin Brown, a Biden appointee who was removed by the Trump administration in May and is currently suing over his dismissal.
With over 30 years of accident-free flying experience, DeLeeuw brings extensive aviation safety expertise from his airline role and teaching at USC Viterbi.

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President Donald Trump on Thursday nominated an American Airlines pilot to serve on the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

According to a Reuters report, Senate records showed Trump has selected John DeLeeuw to take the place of President Joe Biden’s NTSB appointee, Alvin Brown.

Brown, who was removed by the Trump administration in May, is suing Trump over the dismissal.

DeLeeuw is the managing director of safety and efficiency at American Airlines. He has also taught aviation safety courses at the University of Southern California’s Viterbi School of Engineering (USC Viterbi).

President Donald Trump speaks in the East Room of the White House. [Shutterstock – Chip Somodevilla]

According to his USC Viterbi profile, DeLeeuw has logged over 19,000 accident- and incident-free flight hours over the course of his over-30-year flying career. He is also a 787 Dreamliner captain.

“John’s going to be an excellent addition to the board, if confirmed,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told Reuters. “We’re very excited about the nomination, and we’ll be working with him through the process.”