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On Jan. 16, President Bush named National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) member John Hammerschmidt vice chairman, effective Jan. 19. Hammerschmidt succeeds Vice Chairman Carol Carmody, whose term ends Jan. 18.


An NTSB employee for 18 years, Hammerschmidt saw his second five-year term as a board member end Dec. 31. However, board members can continue to serve beyond their terms if a replacement hasn't been named.


Last year, Carmody became acting chairman when President Bush named then-NTSB Chairman Marion Blakey head of Federal Aviation Administration.


"I want to acknowledge the steady leadership of Carmody, who has led this agency twice in the last two years when the NTSB was without a chairman," said Hammerschmidt in a prepared statement. "The NTSB, while being one of the federal government's smallest agencies, has a big job in investigating significant transportation accidents."