NTSB Announces New Leadership Roles

​​​WASHINGTON (July 31, 2023) — The National Transportation Safety Board announced Monday the appointment of a new general counsel and leadership changes in the Office of Research and Engineering and Office of Aviation Safety.

William Thomas (Tom) McMurry, Jr. has been named the NTSB general counsel effective Monday. McMurry previously served as deputy general counsel for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the chief counsel and deputy chief counsel for NASA Langley Research Center and as a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He earned a bachelor’s in political science from James Madison University, a master’s in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College and a law degree from the University of Richmond.

Barbara A. Czech has been named the director of the Office of Research and Engineering effective August 1. Czech has been the deputy director of the Office of Research and Engineering since 2016. She joined the NTSB in 1996 as a survival factors investigator in the Office of Highway Safety and has been an associate managing director and the deputy director of the Office of Railroad, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Investigations. Czech has a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from the University of Maryland.

Czech assumes the role of director following the retirement of Jim Ritter, the director of the Office of Research and Engineering since 2016. Ritter is retiring after 35 years at the NTSB. He previously served in the Office of Aviation Safety, as the deputy director of the Office of Railroad, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Investigations, as chief of vehicle performance division and flight data recorder laboratory and as NTSB’s first national resource specialist in aircraft performance. His work was recognized in 1995 as the first recipient of the NTSB’s annual Dr. John K. Lauber award for technical excellence.

Kristi Dunks has been named the deputy director for regional operations in the Office of Aviation Safety effective Monday. Dunks will oversee operations of the four NTSB regional offices​ (Alaska, Western Pacific, Central and Eastern). Dunks joined the NTSB as a student volunteer in 2002 and has served as the investigator-in-charge and the maintenance group chair of aviation accidents throughout the United States. Most recently, she served as the agency’s first business process manager. She holds a doctorate in technical communication and rhetoric from Texas Tech University, a master of science in business analytics from the University of Virginia, a master of aeronautical science with specializations in human factors and aviation safety from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and is a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. Dunks is an aircraft owner, flight instructor and aviation mechanic, and is certified to fly single and multi-engine airplanes and helicopters, as well as drones. She was awarded the NTSB’s Distinguished Employee Service Award in 2021. 

“NTSB personnel are truly dedicated to our mission of improving safety, protecting the public and saving lives, and I know these proven leaders share that commitment,” said NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy. “I would also like to recognize Jim Ritter for his deep commitment to improving safety for over 35 years at the NTSB. I thank him for his service and expertise and wish him all the best in his retirement.”