On 15 March Chairman Mark V. Rosenker named Thomas E. Haueter Director of the National Transportation Safety Board's Office of Aviation Safety. Haueter figured as investigator in charge in such air crashes as the Pittsburgh 737 (rudder hard-over) and the two crashes that claimed the lives of Senator John Tower and Senator John Heinz. In addition he was the accredited representative for a Copa Airlines 737 crash in Panama in June of 1992 and lead investigator assisting the USAF in the investigation into the crash that claimed Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown in Dubrovnik, Croatia on April 4th, 1996.
Haueter had been serving as Acting Director of the office since November 2006 and has served 23 years at the NTSB. Haueter holds a commercial pilot's license and a multi-engine instrument rating. He is also a structures engineer specializing in gas turbine design.