Jennifer L. Esposito Homendy[1] (born November 26, 1971) is an American government official, currently serving as the 15th chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) since August 2021.[2] She served as member of the NTSB from 2018 to 2021. Homendy worked in legislative advocacy for the AFL–CIO and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters before joining the NTSB in 2018.
Homendy (right) sits in the cockpit of the 737 MAX 9 aircraft involved in the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident.
Homendy has been a member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) since 2018 and has been the chair of the NTSB since 2021. The United States Senate unanimously confirmed Homendy for another five year term on May 14, 2024.[7]
Trump administration
On April 11, 2018, President Donald Trump nominated Homendy to be a member of the NTSB and finish out a term expiring in 2019.[8] The Senate Commerce Committee held hearings on Homendy's nomination on May 16, 2018. The committee favorably reported her nomination to the Senate floor on May 22, 2018. Homendy was confirmed by the entire Senate on July 24, 2018, via voice vote.[9]
Homendy was renominated to the board to serve a full five-year term by President Trump on December 14, 2018.[10] The Commerce Committee held hearings on her nomination on July 24, 2019. The entire Senate confirmed her to a full term by voice vote on August 9, 2019.[11]
Biden administration
On May 19, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Homendy to serve as the chair of the NTSB. On June 24, 2021, the Senate Commerce Committee held hearings on the nomination. The committee favorably reported Homendy's nomination on August 4, 2021. The entire Senate confirmed her by voice vote on August 9, 2021.[12][13]
Homendy has been critical of Tesla, Inc.'s so-called Full Self-Driving feature.[14] She called the term full self-driving "misleading and irresponsible",[15] and urged Tesla to address safety issues identified by the NTSB before expanding Full Self-Driving features that operate on city streets.[16] In August 2021, Homendy praised the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's probe of Tesla collisions with emergency services vehicles.[17]
In response to a question regarding Homendy's comments, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted a link to Homendy's Wikipedia page, leading to a "number of attacks" on the content.[18][19][20]
