Press Release September 14, 2012

NTSB Press Release

National Transportation Safety Board
Office of Public Affairs

NTSB Chief Technical Advisor Jim Cash Awarded Sammie

September 14, 2012

Washington - National Transportation Safety Board's James Cash has been awarded a Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals for career achievement in public service.

"Jim Cash is a humble and soft-spoken gentleman. But underneath that demeanor, there is a lion-hearted intellectual dedicated to investigation and committed to safety," said NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman. "Through his decades of work, his dogged determination and expertise, Jim has made significant contributions to accident investigations that have yielded the clues that led to important safety improvements. Because of that work, he has long been recognized by his colleagues around the world as a pre-eminent technical expert in accident investigation. He truly exemplifies the best of our NTSB staff and of public service overall. I am honored to work along-side him, to learn from him, and to share his passion and commitment to transportation safety."

Cash is the NTSB's Chief Technical Advisor in the Office of Research and Engineering. He has spent nearly three decades deciphering information from electronic recording devices to help determine the causes of major aviation and other transportation accidents that, in turn, led to recommendations to advance transportation safety for the traveling public. Cash is one of world's leading experts on cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders, which help determine the system failures and human errors that cause airplane crashes.

The Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals, or "Sammies," honor outstanding federal employees. The winners were nominated by colleagues familiar with their work and selected by a committee that includes nearly 20 leaders in government, academia, the private sector, media and philanthropy. More than 400 nominations were submitted for medal consideration this year.

NTSB Media Contact:
Office of Public Affairs
490 L'Enfant Plaza, SW
Washington, DC 20594
(202) 314-6100
Keith Holloway
keith.holloway@ntsb.gov

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The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent federal agency charged with determining the probable cause
of transportation accidents, promoting transportation safety, and assisting victims of transportation accidents and their families.