Korean Air Flight 801 investigation/Bios
'BIOGRAPHIES FOR KAL Flight 801 PUBLIC HEARING
BOARD OF INQUIRY AND TECHNICAL PANEL MEMBERS
Benjamin A. Berman
Chief, Operational Factors Division
Office of Aviation Safety
Experience
Mr. Berman has been employed by the National Transportation Safety Board for eight years. As Chief of the Operational Factors Division, he is responsible for managing the Safety Board’s major accident investigations in the areas of flight operations, air traffic control, and meteorology. Previously, Mr. Berman served as a senior air carrier operations investigator assigned to the Safety Board "Go-Team" as Operations Group Chairman. Mr. Berman also led Safety Board research projects on flightcrew performance and air safety in Alaska, both of which were adopted and published by the Board as Safety Studies.
Prior to joining the Safety Board staff, Mr. Berman served as an airline captain. He holds an Airline Transport Pilot certificate with type ratings in the Boeing 737, Embraer 120, and Dornier 228.
Education
Mr. Berman received the A. B. degree summa cum laude in Economics from Harvard College in 1979.
Malcolm W. Brenner
Senior Human Performance Investigator
Operations/Human Performance Group Chairman
Experience
Dr. Brenner has been employed with the National Transportation Safety Board for approximately 12 years. Prior to joining the Safety Board, he conducted research on human factors for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Brooks Laboratory of the United Stated Air Force. He served as an expert witness on human factors for the Senate Judiciary Committee, and consultant for law firms representing both defense and plaintiff positions in the aviation litigation. Since joining the Safety Board, Dr. Brenner provided human performance support to numerous major aviation investigations and has taught the human performance investigation in the NTSB Accident Investigation School.
Dr. Brenner is a private pilot. He served as president of the San Francisco chapter of the International Society of Air Safety Investigators.
Education
B.A., Boston University M.A., Stanford University Ph.D., University of Michigan
Pat Cariseo
Transportation Safety Specialist
Office of Safety Recommendations and Accomplishments
Experience
Mr. Cariseo is a transportation safety specialist in the Office of Safety Recommendations and Accomplishments. For the previous three years, Mr. Cariseo had been the Safety Board's public affairs representative on site at nine major transportation accidents, including several highly-publicized aviation accidents: ValuJet DC-9 accident in Miami, TWA 747 midair explosion off Long Island, and United Express runway collision in Quincy, Illinois, all in 1996, and the Fine Air cargo accident in Miami in 1997. He has also been the Safety Board's public affairs representative at four accident investigation public hearings and two safety symposiums that focused on the dangers of human fatigue in all modes of transportation, and the human factors and technological challenges of marine integrated bridge systems.
Prior to coming to the Safety Board, Mr. Cariseo was with the Federal Aviation Administration for six years where he managed a team of media specialists in the Office of Public Affairs and worked on a task force to reshape the agency's internal communications procedures. He also served as the FAA's public affairs representative on site at the crash of USAir flight 427 in Pittsburgh and as the U.S. Secretary of Transportation's public affairs representative at the USAir flight 1016 accident Charlotte, NC, both in 1994.
For eight years, he was on the staff of two members of Congress, serving as a press secretary and transportation legislative assistant. He is a Vietnam veteran and served in the U.S. Army for two years.
Education
Bachelor's degree from Rutgers College, New Jersey; Master's from Boston University.
John Clark
Deputy Director, Office of Aviation Safety
Experience
Mr. Clark has been at the Safety Board for 16 years. He began his career at the Board as the manager of the Safety Board’s General Aviation Crashworthiness Project. During his tenure he has held the positions of airplane performance engineer, Chief of the Vehicle Performance Division, Deputy Director of the Office of Research and Engineering, and is currently the Deputy Director of the Office of Aviation Safety. Mr. Clark has extensive experience with general aviation crashworthiness investigation and airplane performance investigations. Prior to his employment with the Safety Board, he worked on airplane simulator design with Flight Safety International, and spent 13 years at Beech Aircraft Corporation working on target drone design/simulation and flight test, airplane accident investigations, and general aviation crashworthiness investigations.
Education
Mr. Clark received a BSAE from Wichita State University in 1970.
Scott J. Dunham
Air Traffic Control Investigator
Experience
Mr. Dunham has been employed with the National Transportation Safety Board since October 1997, serving as an air traffic control investigator in the Operational Factors Division. Mr. Dunham came to the NTSB after eight years with the MITRE Corporation, where he served as an air traffic control systems consultant providing technical advice and system engineering services to the Federal Aviation Administration, the United Kingdom’s National Air Traffic Service, Eurocontrol, and other European ATC authorities. Mr. Dunham also has ten years experience as an FAA air traffic controller, including assignments to training and airspace and procedures positions.
Mr. Dunham holds a private pilot certificate with an instrument rating, and is also an advanced and instrument ground instructor.
Education
Master of Arts in Computer Resources and Information Management Bachelor of Arts in Computer Studies
Gregory A. Feith
Senior Air Safety Investigator
Investigator-In-Charge (IIC) of Korean Air Flight 801 investigation
Experience
Mr. Feith has been employed with the National Transportation Safety Board for approximately 18 years. He has served as a Field Air Safety Investigator, Operations Group Chairman, Regional Office Unit Supervisor and Regional Director; and is currently a Senior Air Safety Investigator in the Major Investigations Division. Mr. Feith has been the IIC for more than 500 domestic aircraft incident/accident investigations, and has been the U.S. Accredited Representative on approximately 100 foreign aircraft incidents/accidents. Some of the notable recent investigations include the USAir DC-9 that killed over 30 people in Charlotte, North Carolina in July 1994, the American Eagle ATR 72 that crashed in Roselawn, Indiana, due to a unique airframe icing phenomena; and the Valujet DC-9 that crashed in the Florida Everglades because of an in-flight fire in the cargo compartment caused by improperly packaged oxygen generators.
Mr. Feith holds an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate with single and multi-engine airplane ratings, and has accumulated over 2,100 hours of flight time.
Education
Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Studies from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Gary Hammack
Air Safety Investigator
Office of Safety Recommendations
Experience
Mr. Hammack has been employed with the National Transportation Safety Board for approximately 14 years. For his first seven years, he served as an investigator in the Survival Factors Division where he investigated the survivability and cabin safety aspects of accidents, as well as the emergency response to accidents. Some of the notable accidents he investigated include the 1985 and 1988 Delta Airlines accidents at Dallas/Fort Worth, and the 1989 accident involving USAir flight 5050 at La Guardia when a Boeing 737 went off the departure end of the runway into Flushing Bay following an aborted take off. He also investigated the United Airlines accident in Sioux City, Iowa and participated in the TWA flight 800 investigation.
Before coming to the Safety Board, his career was in the fire service. He began as a volunteer in 1964, then served 10 years as a professional fire fighter in a metropolitan city fire department where he also served as an instructor in the training academy. Mr. Hammack also represents the Safety Board on the National Fire Protection Association's Committee on Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting.
Mr. Hammack holds a single- and multi-engine Commercial Pilot license and an instrument rating, and is a flight instructor in single and multi-engine airplanes, and is also an instrument flight instructor.
Paul R. Misencik
Air Safety Investigator - Operational Factors
Operations Group Chairman of Korean Air Flight 801 investigation
Experience
Captain Misencik has been employed with the National Transportation Safety Board since July 1996 He has served as Operations Group Chairman for more than a dozen domestic and international aircraft accident investigations.
Captain Misencik has over 30 years experience as an airline pilot with approximately 26,000 flight hours. He has flown as Captain with Eastern Air Lines, Evergreen International Airlines, Express One International, USAfrica Airways and American International Airlines. He has been a check-airman, flight instructor, simulator instructor, Director of Flight Standards, Director of Training and Chief Pilot.
Captain Misencik holds an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate with B-727 and MD-11 type ratings. He holds a Flight Engineer Turbojet and Turboprop certificate and a current Certified Flight Instructor and Instrument Ground Instructor certificate.
Education
Bachelor of Arts, University of Akron
Monty L. Montgomery
Electronics Engineer
Mr. Montgomery has been employed with the Safety Board since 1980. As Chief of the Information Technology Division in the Office of Research and Engineering, he is currently responsible for central computer management, LAN management, systems, database and applications programming. Previously, he supervised the CVR and FDR labs and vehicle performance staff, and has written flight recorder, computer graphic animation, and vehicle performance analysis programs. From 1976 to 1980, Mr. Montgomery participated in the FAA's Concorde SST Noise Monitoring Project, running the lab equipment and writing acoustical and radar data reduction programs.
Education
BS Electrical Engineering, Lowell Technological Institute (1975) Graduate studies in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Charles M. Pereira
Aerospace Engineer
Aircraft Performance Group Chairman
Experience
Mr. Pereira has been employed by the Safety Board for approximately 7 years. He has served as the Aircraft Performance Group Chairman on numerous major aviation, including, the American Eagle ATR 72 at Roselawn, Indiana and the TWA Boeing 747 at Moriches, New York. In addition, Mr. Pereira has been the Group Chairman for numerous railroad and marine accident investigations. During his undergraduate study, he worked for 2 years at Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, focusing primarily on the G-IV Flight Test program, and Stability and Control group projects.
Education
B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (1989). Current study towards M.S. in Aeronautical Science at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.
Gregory J. Phillips
Senior Air Safety Investigator
Systems Group Chairman of Korean Air Flight 801 investigation
Experience
Mr. Phillips has been employed with the National Transportation Safety Board for approximately 10 years. He has served as an Aerospace Engineer (Systems), National Resource Specialist-Airworthiness Engineering, and is currently a Senior Air Safety Investigator in the Major Investigations Division. Mr. Phillips has been the Systems Group Chairman for over 40 incident/accident investigations. Some of the notable recent investigations include the USAir Boeing 737 that crashed near Aliquippa, Pennsylvania in September 1994, the United Airlines DC-10 that crashed in Sioux City, Iowa, and the Avianca B-707 that crashed in New York as a result of fuel exhaustion.
Prior to joining the Board, Mr. Phillips worked as a design engineer for Cessna Aircraft in Wichita, Kansas and Northrop Aircraft in Los Angeles, California. In these positions he was responsible for the design of aircraft structures, flight controls, hydraulic, pneumatic, and environmental control systems.
Mr. Phillips holds a Commercial Pilot certificate with instrument and single-engine airplane ratings for land and sea.
Education
Bachelor of Science in Engineering (1979), University of Evansville, Evansville, Indiana. Master of Arts in Management (1985), University of Redlands, Redlands, California.
Ronald L. Schleede
Deputy Director, Office of Aviation Safety
International Aviation Safety Affairs
Experience
Mr. Schleede has been an investigator and manager at the NTSB for over 25 years, and has been Deputy Director of the Office of Aviation Safety for over 3 years. Before that, he served as the Chief of the Major Accident Division for 10 years, supervising the senior air safety investigators who lead U.S. major airline accident investigations, manage public hearings, write the major accident reports, and lead the U.S. teams supporting overseas governments' major investigations involving U.S. airlines or U.S.-manufactured aircraft. Mr. Schleede's other positions at the Safety Board include Deputy Director, Bureau of Accident Investigation, Chief of the Human Performance Division, major team Investigator-in-Charge, regional investigator, and human factors specialist. In the past 15 years, he has participated in, or been closely associated with, virtually every major airline accident in the U.S., as well as many major accidents outside of the U.S. Mr. Schleede has been the NTSB's International Aviation Liaison program manager for the past 15 years, working with the International Civil Aviation Organization and other international organizations. He spent over 5 years in the U.S. Air Force as a fighter pilot, maintenance test pilot, and accident investigator; he holds a commercial pilot certificate with multi-engine privileges and has accumulated over 2,000 hours of flying time.
Education
B.S. in Natural Sciences from the University of Akron, Ohio.
Richard J. Wentworth
National Resource Specialist (ATC)
Air Traffic Control Group Chairman of Korean Air 801 investigation
Experience
Mr. Wentworth has been employed with the National Transportation Safety Board for almost 13 years. He has served as a investigator, senior investigator and Assistant Chief for Air Traffic Control since his employ with the Board. His ATC career started with the US Army in 1966 which included a tour in Viet Nam. He later worked as a controller in a contract tower for Ross Aviation for a year and then began federal employment as an air traffic controller with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 1970 at the Atlanta Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC). Mr. Wentworth worked in the Jacksonville ARTCC; the Charlotte ATC Tower and Approach Control; the Asheville, North Carolina, TRACAB (Tower and Approach Control) and the Miami ATC Tower and Approach Control. Mr. Wentworth aspired to the positions of training specialist and supervisor.
He has served as the Group Chairman for numerous aviation accidents and incidents, including the Avionica Boeing 707 in Cove Neck, New York, and the ValuJet DC-9 in Miami, Florida. Mr. Wentworth has also conducted several special investigations at ARTCC facility in Chicago, Illinois and the Coast TRACON, El Toro, California.
In addition, Mr. Wentworth has investigated or participated in a numerous Safety Board surface accident investigations at Atlanta, Georgia, Detroit, Michigan, Newark, New Jersey, Los Angeles, California, and Miami, Florida.
Education
BS in Management from Jones College, Jacksonville, Florida
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work of the United States federal government (see 17 U.S.C. 105).
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