Aero Club speaker nominated as next NTSB chairman

Robert Sumwalt, the National Transportation Safety Board member who was the keynote speaker at Wichita Aero Club in February, has been nominated to be its next chairman.

If his White House nomination is approved by the Senate, he would hold the position for two years.

Sumwalt has been an NTSB member since 2006. The former 32-year pilot for Piedmont Airlines and US Airways has served as vice chairman of the investigative agency since March.

One of his highest-profile investigations was the Jan. 15, 2009, water landing of a US Airways passenger jet portrayed in the 2016 movie, “Sully.”