Dr. Bower has been Chief of the Vehicle Performance Division since April of 2005. He was originally employed at the Safety Board in 1995 as an aerospace engineer in the Vehicle Performance Division. He specializes in aircraft performance, aerodynamics, computational fluid dynamics, and icing issues. Dr. Bower has served as aircraft performance group chairman on several major aircraft accident investigations including Alaska Airlines flight 261, Comair 3272, the JFK, Jr., accident, and ValuJet flight 592, and performed radar data and ballistic studies in support of NASA investigation of space shuttle Columbia accident. He performed analysis of FDR and radar data in support of FBI's investigation of September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He designed and performed a flight test program and supported fuel tank flammability studies in the TWA flight 800 investigation. As aerospace engineer (performance) at Wright Patterson Air Force Base (1986-1988), he performed ascent and re-entry analysis of National Aerospace Plane (NASP) design concepts. He taught engineering classes at undergraduate and graduate level at the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, State University of New York at Buffalo (1988-1993). He also analyzed hypersonic experimental test data from Large Energy National Shock Tunnel (LENS) facility as a research scientist/engineer at Calspan-University of Buffalo Research Center, Buffalo, New York (1991-1995). Dr. Bower was awarded the NASA Space Flight Awareness Team Award, and a Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center Group Achievement Award for work during the Space Shuttle Columbia accident investigation, and received NTSB's Dr. John K. Lauber Award (1998) for conducting research programs in aircraft in-flight icing during the Comair 3272 investigation, and for conducting a flight test program to examine center wing tank heating during the TWA 800 investigation. Dr. Bower holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering (1986) and a Ph.D. Aerospace Engineering (1996) from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Evan Byrne has been employed at the Safety Board since June 1996. He has served as Chief of the Human Performance Division since February 2001 and has previously held the positions of Senior Human Performance Investigator and Aviation Psychologist in the Human Performance Division. During his tenure at the Board, he has served as human performance investigator in more than a dozen major investigations, including SilkAir flight 185 in Indonesia, American Airlines flight 1420 in Little Rock, Arkansas, FedEx flight 14 in Newark, NJ, Fine Airlines flight 101 in Miami, Emery Worldwide Airlines flight 017 in Sacramento, CA, Delta Air Lines flight 1288, in Pensacola, FL, Continental Airlines flight 1493 in Houston, TX, the Sunjet Aviation Learjet 35 accident in South Dakota, and the Air Midwest flight 5481 accident in Charlotte, NC. Before joining the Safety Board, he was a research associate conducting NASA-sponsored research on automation at the Cognitive Science Laboratory at the Catholic University in Washington, DC. He earned his Ph.D. and M.A. at the University of Maryland - College Park in 1993 where he studied physiological measures of mental workload. He graduated with a B.S. in psychology in 1986 from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. He is an active instrument-rated private pilot.

Ms. Horgan has been employed by the National Transportation Safety Board's Aviation Engineering Division since March 2001. As a powerplants specialist, she serves as the Powerplants Group Chair for major air carrier and corporate accident investigations, acts as the US Accredited Representative to foreign accident investigations, and supports Regional investigations of Part 91 and 135 aircraft. Ms. Horgan has over 25 years of aviation experience, including work as an engine mechanic, engine manufacturer's technical representative and product support manager. Ms. Horgan supported engine overhaul activities while located at several major turbine engine repair stations, and she has been involved in aircraft accident investigation since 1983. Prior to joining the NTSB, she was a Senior Accident Investigator with Rolls-Royce Corporation. Ms. Horgan is an FAA certificated Powerplants mechanic and holds a BS from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Joe Jackson has been employed by the Safety Board since January 1986, working in the Head Office in Hull, Quebec. His positions have always been related to investigation report writing and production, and investigation standards. During his time with the Board, he assisted in the investigation of many occurrences, including a Fokker F28 take-off icing accident in Dryden, Ontario, a Canadair CRJ landing accident in Fredericton, New Brunswick, and the SwissAir fire accident near Halifax, NS. In 1988, Joe resigned from the Board for a four-month period to work for a charter airline flying Boeing 757 aircraft. Prior to joining the Safety Board, Joe was a pilot in the Canadian Air Force, primarily flying fighter jets with his final flying tour as a Boeing 707 captain in world-wide passenger and freight transport and crew training. His last military tour was as a fighter-aircraft accident investigator, his segue into civilian aircraft accident investigation. Joe has a degree in science and mathematics and a valid airline transport pilot license.

Captain Kirchgessner has been employed with the National Transportation Safety Board since November 11, 2000. As an Operational Factors Investigator, he is assigned to serve as the Operations Group Chairman in major air carrier accident investigations involving commercial jet transport aircraft. Before joining the NTSB, Captain Kirchgessner had over twenty years experience in the aviation industry. He has flown as Captain for commuter and major domestic and international airlines, including Henson Airlines, New York Air and Continental Airlines. He has accumulated over 10,000 hours of flight time. He has held the position of Director of Operations for Gemini Air Cargo, performed aviation consulting work with the Egyptian CAA and was an FAA Safety Inspector for nine years. During his career with the FAA, he served as Principal Operations Inspector (POI) for Key Airlines, World Airways, Dash Airlines, USAfrica and Gemini Air Cargo. Captain Kirchgessner holds an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate with SD-330, DHC-7, B727, B737, DC-10 and MD-11 type ratings. He also holds a Certified Flight Instructor Certificate with instrument and multi-engine designations.

Dana Schulze is an Accident Investigator in the Office of Aviation Safety, specializing in areas related to System Safety. She joined the Safety Board in 2002 as the first subject matter specialist for system safety in aviation investigations. Prior to joining the agency, Dana worked in the commercial aerospace industry in a variety of engineering and management roles related to system safety, reliability, and quality. She has a B.S. degree in Space Sciences from the Florida Institute of Technology and an M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the State University of New York. Ms. Schulze is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), the System Safety Society, and the American Society for Quality.

Mr. Swaim has been employed by the National Transportation Safety Board for over seventeen years. Best known for the aging aircraft and fuel vapor protection issues found during the investigation into TWA flight 800, he has been responsible for numerous investigations that involve aircraft systems. Mr. Swaim has also led investigations involving aircraft structure, powerplants, and maintenance; plus been the Accredited Representative of the United States for foreign accidents, including a March 2001 Boeing 737 fuel tank explosion in Bangkok, Thailand. Mr. Swaim assists NTSB field office investigations, and while most of his investigations involve transport and complex airplanes, he has been the focal investigator for general aviation accidents. Prior to working for the NTSB, Mr. Swaim was employed as an engineer or field service representative at Kaman Aerospace (SH-2 Seasprite), Hughes Helicopters (AH-64), Lockheed (L-1011), Volpar (aircraft modifications), and worked as an independant airframe and powerplant mechanic. He is also an aircraft owner and Boy Scout Troop Committee Chairman. Mr. Swaim attended Tri-State College an an Aeronautical Engineer and subsequently attended Ohio University, Northrop Institute of Technology, and University of Maryland. He received a Bachelor's degree in Industrial Education (Aircraft Mechanics) and an OPM Equivalence in Aerospace Engineering.

Lorenda Ward was originally hired by the Safety Board in November 1998 to work in AS40 as a structures aerospace engineer. As a structures engineer she worked four major water recovery accidents; Swiss Air, EgyptAir, Alaska Airlines, and Gulf Air. In addition to the water recovery accidents she has worked numerous mid-air collisions and in-flight breakups. Just before September 11, 2001, she was promoted to AS10 as an investigator-in-charge (IIC). As an IIC she worked at the Pentagon and the World Trade Center to support the FBI after the terrorists attacks and also assisted with the on-scene investigation of American Airlines flight 587. She was the public hearing officer for American Airlines flight 587 and Air Midwest flight 5481. She is the IIC for the Edelweiss uncontained engine failure in Miami, the Era S76A++ helicopter crash in the Gulf of Mexico, the Executive Airlines ATR-72 that crashed on landing in Puerto Rico, and for Pinnacle Airlines CL-600 2B-19 accident. She was the IIC for Air Midwest flight 5481 and has acted as an accredited representative to numerous foreign accident/incident investigations. She has traveled to Bahrain, China, Germany, Canada and England to work on different accident investigations. Before coming to the board she worked for the US Navy at NADEP JAX in Jacksonville, Florida. While there she worked on the T-45, EA-6B and F-14 programs. She received both her bachelor and master of aerospace engineering from Auburn University. She has her private pilot's license and approximately 200 hours of flight time. She has also attended the Civilian Flight Test School in Mojave, California.