Inman, a public face of the National Transportation Safety Board investigation into the Jan. 2025 midair collision near Washington, said Sunday that the Trump administration fired him without explanation, the second NTSB member to make a similar claim. He said he received a notice Friday from the White House personnel office that his board position was “terminated effective immediately,” and that he had not yet been told why.
Inman said his work on the board made him appreciate the agency’s mission, adding that serving as the board member on scene for major aviation incidents over the past two decades helped him see the safety organization’s role as “more crucial now than ever before.” He also said he praised the NTSB staff and investigators as “world class,” and he described the work on investigations and alongside impacted families and first responders as having taken a toll on him and his family.
In his statement, Inman referred to the NTSB’s role in investigating aviation accidents and other significant disasters and making recommendations aimed at avoiding similar incidents. The NTSB has a five-person board, and in an update Sunday the agency’s website showed just three members after additional leadership changes last year.
Inman’s account follows other disputes involving the NTSB’s board membership. The Associated Press reported that the board’s vice chair, Alvin Brown, was abruptly removed last year, along with Robert Primus, who served on the U.S. Surface Transportation Board. Both men were among the only Black board members overseeing their respective independent agencies when they were fired, and Brown and Primus have challenged their firings in court, while the group Democracy Forward has filed discrimination claims on their behalf.
The AP also reported that experts said they could not recall a firing “from the NTSB” on that scale, and that the White House previously has said President Donald Trump was within his legal rights to fire Brown and Primus and that performance—not bias—drove the decisions. Inman’s statement did not provide a new explanation for why he was removed.
Inman said that, in addition to the January 2025 collision near the capital that killed 67 people, he also served as the lead board member for the investigation of a UPS cargo plane crash in Kentucky in which 15 people died. He wrote that the NTSB’s leadership and those who control it should “stay true to its roots and culture” and keep the agency “unimpeded by political or personal agendas.”
The Associated Press reported the White House had no immediate response to a message left seeking comment.