Latest news with #JenniferHomendy
Reuters
an hour ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Fired NTSB vice chair sues Trump over removal from office
WASHINGTON, June 4 (Reuters) - The fired vice chair of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board sued President Donald Trump on Wednesday, saying his removal from office was illegal and threatened the independent agency's safety mission. Alvin Brown, a Democrat who was the first-ever African American elected mayor of Jacksonville, Florida, was designated as vice chair in December by then-President Joe Biden after he joined the five-member board in March 2024. Reuters first reported his May 5 removal from office by the White House. Brown's lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington also names the NTSB and NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy, seeking a court order to enable him to perform his duties as a board member and "to ensure that the NTSB can resume its congressionally mandated work as Congress intended." The lawsuit added his removal has "significant and damaging consequences for the work of the Board and its investigation and reporting of major transportation accidents and casualties." The NTSB declined to comment. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The NTSB investigates all civil aviation accidents as well as significant accidents in other modes of transportation - highway, marine, pipeline and railroad - and determines the probable cause and makes safety recommendations. Brown's suit said Trump may remove a board member "only for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office." A lawyer for Brown, Victoria Nugent, said "at a time when transportation safety is top of mind, we should be strengthening, not weakening, the systems meant to protect all Americans." Since January, Trump has fired two Democratic members of the Federal Trade Commission and members of the National Labor Relations Board, Merit Systems Protection Board and Federal Election Commission among others. The U.S. Supreme Court last month allowed Trump's firing of two Democratic members of federal labor boards to remain in effect while their legal challenges proceed, in a dispute that tests his power over independent government agencies. Brown's removal from the NTSB came amid heightened concern about aviation safety following the January 29 mid-air collision of a U.S. Army helicopter and an American Airlines (AAL.O), opens new tab regional jet that killed 67 people. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wants tens of billions of dollars from Congress to overhaul U.S. air traffic control and staffing.
Reuters
21-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
DOGE team assigned to review National Transportation Safety Board operations
WASHINGTON, May 21 (Reuters) - Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency initiative has recently assigned a team to review operations at the National Transportation Safety Board, a spokesperson for the NTSB confirmed on Wednesday. DOGE has been assigning teams to a number of independent agencies and recently sought to review agencies that are part of the legislative branch. Earlier this month, the White House fired three Democrats on the five-member Consumer Product Safety Commission after a DOGE team visited seeking to join as detailees to the agency. The commissioners filed suit on Wednesday over the dismissals. NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy told reporters in March the agency had not lost any personnel as a result of government job cuts and that it was exempt from DOGE's buyout offer. In an April 14 letter to Congress, Homendy said "the Trump administration has recognized the critical role that the NTSB and its workforce plays." Homendy said the NTSB -- which has around 400 employees - had submitted a reorganization plan that included eliminating 14 positions through regular attrition. DOGE teams have been reviewing leases, staffing and financial contracts signed by smaller agencies among other issues as part of a sweeping overhaul of government. A series of aviation safety incidents including the Jan. 29 mid-air collision between an American Airlines (AAL.O), opens new tab regional jet and a Army helicopter that killed 67 people have raised alarm and the NTSB has opened numerous safety investigations into incidents in recent months. The NTSB has also investigated high-profile train derailments and maritime accidents including the 2024 collapse of the Key Bridge in Baltimore that prompted the board to issue urgent safety recommendations in March. The NTSB workload typically exceeds 2,000 investigations a year.
CNN
21-05-2025
- CNN
Shortage of overnight truck parking contributed to deadly Greyhound bus crash, regulators say
Overnight parking for long-haul truckers at interstate rest stops is critically short and was a key contributor to a 2023 Greyhound bus crash in Illinois that killed three people, federal regulators said Tuesday. The National Transportation Safety Board said driver fatigue and poor company oversight of its drivers also played key roles when the Greyhound bus exited Interstate 70 onto a rest area ramp east of St. Louis and struck three semitrailers parked on the shoulder. Board Chairperson Jennifer Homendy said the crash, which sheared off the right side of the bus and injured 12 aboard, was preventable. 'Our investigation brought to light a critical shortage of safe truck parking and made clear a painful lesson: Until we address this important safety issue, lives are at risk on our nation's roads,' she said. Truck parking on rest stop entrance and exit ramps is illegal, but the ban is seldom enforced because there's insufficient parking for the 13 million rigs on the nation's roads and the federal government electronically monitors truckers' hours on the road and their rest periods. The board, meeting in Washington, cited the bus driver's fatigue and 'deficient driver oversight by Greyhound,' including the company's failure to address the driver's 'recurring unsafe driving behaviors.' Records compiled during the investigation showed the driver had been involved in four prior accidents, two of which were deemed preventable, and an electronic monitor caught him driving over the speed limit on repeated occasions. A spokesman said via email 'Greyhound Lines has fully cooperated with the NTSB since the beginning of this investigation' but declined further comment, citing ongoing litigation. The westbound bus, with 22 passengers, entered the rest area near Highland, 32 miles (about 51 kilometers) east of St. Louis at 1:48 a.m. on July 12, 2023. It slid along the sides of three trucks parked for the night. None of the truck drivers was hurt, but three bus passengers were killed and the bus driver and 11 other passengers were injured. The report also noted that injuries could have been minimized if more passengers had been wearing safety belts provided. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration adopted a rule in 2019 requiring commercial buses to have seatbelts for the driver and every passenger. Illinois law requires the use of seatbelts.
CNN
21-05-2025
- CNN
Illinois bus crash: Shortage of truck parking contributed to Greyhound accident
Source: AP Overnight parking for long-haul truckers at interstate rest stops is critically short and was a key contributor to a 2023 Greyhound bus crash in Illinois that killed three people, federal regulators said Tuesday. The National Transportation Safety Board said driver fatigue and poor company oversight of its drivers also played key roles when the Greyhound bus exited Interstate 70 onto a rest area ramp east of St. Louis and struck three semitrailers parked on the shoulder. Board Chairperson Jennifer Homendy said the crash, which sheared off the right side of the bus and injured 12 aboard, was preventable. 'Our investigation brought to light a critical shortage of safe truck parking and made clear a painful lesson: Until we address this important safety issue, lives are at risk on our nation's roads,' she said. Truck parking on rest stop entrance and exit ramps is illegal, but the ban is seldom enforced because there's insufficient parking for the 13 million rigs on the nation's roads and the federal government electronically monitors truckers' hours on the road and their rest periods. The board, meeting in Washington, cited the bus driver's fatigue and 'deficient driver oversight by Greyhound,' including the company's failure to address the driver's 'recurring unsafe driving behaviors.' Records compiled during the investigation showed the driver had been involved in four prior accidents, two of which were deemed preventable, and an electronic monitor caught him driving over the speed limit on repeated occasions. A spokesman said via email 'Greyhound Lines has fully cooperated with the NTSB since the beginning of this investigation' but declined further comment, citing ongoing litigation. The westbound bus, with 22 passengers, entered the rest area near Highland, 32 miles (about 51 kilometers) east of St. Louis at 1:48 a.m. on July 12, 2023. It slid along the sides of three trucks parked for the night. None of the truck drivers was hurt, but three bus passengers were killed and the bus driver and 11 other passengers were injured. The report also noted that injuries could have been minimized if more passengers had been wearing safety belts provided. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration adopted a rule in 2019 requiring commercial buses to have seatbelts for the driver and every passenger. Illinois law requires the use of seatbelts. See Full Web Article
CNN
21-05-2025
- CNN
Shortage of overnight truck parking contributed to deadly Greyhound bus crash, regulators say
Overnight parking for long-haul truckers at interstate rest stops is critically short and was a key contributor to a 2023 Greyhound bus crash in Illinois that killed three people, federal regulators said Tuesday. The National Transportation Safety Board said driver fatigue and poor company oversight of its drivers also played key roles when the Greyhound bus exited Interstate 70 onto a rest area ramp east of St. Louis and struck three semitrailers parked on the shoulder. Board Chairperson Jennifer Homendy said the crash, which sheared off the right side of the bus and injured 12 aboard, was preventable. 'Our investigation brought to light a critical shortage of safe truck parking and made clear a painful lesson: Until we address this important safety issue, lives are at risk on our nation's roads,' she said. Truck parking on rest stop entrance and exit ramps is illegal, but the ban is seldom enforced because there's insufficient parking for the 13 million rigs on the nation's roads and the federal government electronically monitors truckers' hours on the road and their rest periods. The board, meeting in Washington, cited the bus driver's fatigue and 'deficient driver oversight by Greyhound,' including the company's failure to address the driver's 'recurring unsafe driving behaviors.' Records compiled during the investigation showed the driver had been involved in four prior accidents, two of which were deemed preventable, and an electronic monitor caught him driving over the speed limit on repeated occasions. A spokesman said via email 'Greyhound Lines has fully cooperated with the NTSB since the beginning of this investigation' but declined further comment, citing ongoing litigation. The westbound bus, with 22 passengers, entered the rest area near Highland, 32 miles (about 51 kilometers) east of St. Louis at 1:48 a.m. on July 12, 2023. It slid along the sides of three trucks parked for the night. None of the truck drivers was hurt, but three bus passengers were killed and the bus driver and 11 other passengers were injured. The report also noted that injuries could have been minimized if more passengers had been wearing safety belts provided. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration adopted a rule in 2019 requiring commercial buses to have seatbelts for the driver and every passenger. Illinois law requires the use of seatbelts.
