With the swearing in of Mark Rosekind and Earl Weener as members of the NTSB on June 30, the investigative body reached its full complement of five for the first time since President Obama took office in January 2009.

In addition, with the seating of Weener, the NTSB now has three pilot members. He joins vice chairman Christopher Hart, a commercial pilot with multi-engine and instrument ratings; and member Robert Sumwalt, a former airline and corporate pilot. Weener is a certified pilot who has served as a general aviation flight instructor and flown Part 135 operations.

NBAA “enthusiastically welcomed” the appointments of Rosekind and Weener, calling them two respected figures with a thorough understanding of safety issues important to the business aviation community.

“NBAA and the business aviation community have longstanding and highly productive working relationships with Dr. Rosekind and Dr. Weener,” said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen. “Each is knowledgeable about business aviation, and each has long been focused on safety, which is the industry’s highest priority. The superior level of technical experience and investigative knowledge that each will bring to the Board will contribute significantly to the expertise already present at the NTSB.”  

Rosekind is an internationally recognized fatigue expert who has conducted research and implemented programs in diverse settings, including all modes of transportation, health care, law enforcement, elite athletes and military groups.

Before joining the board, Rosekind was president and chief scientist of Alertness Solutions, a scientific consulting firm in Cupertino, Calif., that specializes in fatigue management.

Before founding Alertness Solutions, he directed the fatigue countermeasures program and was chief of the aviation operations branch in the flight management and human factors division at the NASA Ames Research Center. 

Rosekind has published 150 scientific, technical and industry papers and provided hundreds of presentations to operational, general and scientific audiences.

Weener has dedicated his entire career to the field of aviation safety. Most recently he has been a consultant and fellow for the FSF, where he worked to reduce accidents through coordinated industry programs. He has led efforts across a broad spectrum of aviation safety issues, including fatigue management, runway safety and approach-and-landing accident prevention. NBAA and the FSF partner every year to produce the Corporate Aviation Safety Seminar, which highlights the latest safety issues and trends affecting business aviation. 

From 1984 to 1999, Weener held a series of positions with Boeing, including three chief engineer positions: in airworthiness, reliability and maintainability, and safety; in system engineering; and in safety technology development. He also served four years as Boeing’s manager of government affairs.

Rosekind’s term as a member of the Board expires Dec. 31, 2014. Weener’s expires a year later.