Trump nominates American Airlines pilot to NTSB amid board turmoil 

US President Donald Trump has nominated John DeLeeuw, an American Airlines Boeing 787 captain and the carrier’s managing director of safety and efficiency, to a seat on the National Transportation Safety Board. Under normal circumstances, it would seem like a sensible pick, yet it comes as the Board faces an ongoing legal drama over the contested firing by Trump of Safety Board Vice Chair Alvin Brown earlier this year. 
 
Trump has nominated DeLeeuw to serve out a term ending Dec. 31, 2026, the same as Brown’s. DeLeeuw still needs Senate committee approval and a full Senate vote before being permitted to fill the role. If confirmed by the Senate, DeLeeuw would fill Brown’s seat. 

But Brown’s departure is at the center of a pending lawsuit that challenges the White House’s authority to remove an NTSB member without cause. The Senate confirmed Brown to a full term during Democrat Joe Biden’s time as president, but Trump fired him on May 5, 2025, with no reason given. Brown, who is the former Democratic mayor of Jacksonville, Florida, and has no aviation experience, filled one of the non-technical seats on the Board.  
 
Upon his firing, Brown was immediately barred from his office, computer equipment, and staff, according to a legal filing by Democracy Forward, which represents him in his lawsuit. The filing argues that the statute governing the NTSB permits removal only for cause — defined in law as inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office. On August 8, 2025, Brown’s lawyers asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to issue a final ruling in his favor and reinstate him to the Board.  
 
Brown’s lawyers argue that Congress created the NTSB to conduct accident investigations and issue safety recommendations based on expertise and evidence, insulated from political pressure. Allowing presidents to remove members at will, his lawyers argue, would weaken that intent and could erode public trust in the aftermath of high-profile accidents.  

DeLeeuw’s background, meanwhile, suggests a nominee with direct operational safety experience. In addition to flying the 787, he has held senior safety roles at American Airlines. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy has voiced support for the nomination, saying DeLeeuw could contribute positively to the Board’s work, according to Reuters.

For now, the nomination raises practical questions that could intersect with the legal challenge. If the court rules that Brown’s removal violated the law, it might complicate the seating of a replacement. If the court upholds the removal, the seat would be open for the Senate to fill with DeLeeuw. For now, both processes move in parallel: the lawsuit in federal court and the nomination in the Senate.  

What comes next is straightforward: the Senate Commerce Committee will review DeLeeuw’s record and decide whether to send his nomination to the full Senate for a confirmation vote. Separately, the court will decide whether Brown should be reinstated. Until those outcomes are clear, the NTSB remains in an unusual position: fulfilling its transportation safety mandate while dealing with the question over which candidate ultimately will be permitted to serve on the Board.