WASHINGTON -- Deborah A.P. Hersman, who has been a member of the National Transportation Safety Board for five years, was sworn in last month as the agencys 12th chairman.

At roughly the same time, it was announced that two members of the safety board are leaving.

Hersman was nominated for the two-year term as chairman by President Barack Obama in June and confirmed by the U.S. Senate last month. She also was nominated and confirmed for a second five-year term as board member, which runs through 2013.

She replaces Mark Rosenker as chairman.

Hersman became a member of the NTSB in mid-2004. Since then, she has participated in a number of NTSB investigations, headed a handful of investigations, and chaired several of its public hearings.

Last October, she chaired the two-day public hearing on the January 2008 motorcoach crash in Victoria, Texas, that killed one person and injured 44 others. The incident involved a coach company that was operating illegally.

Rosenker announced his resignation as acting chairman and member of the NTSB. He had served as acting chairman since his second two-year term as chairman expired in August last year.

Controversy surfaced on more than one occasion during Rosenkers four-and-a-half-year stint on the board.

Robert Ford, the lead NTSB investigator on the capsizing of the ship Ethan Allen, left the agency before the final report was issued, saying the NTSB report of the incident under Rosenkers direction was seriously flawed.

Ford has been seeking either a Congressional investigation into the NTSB handling of the matter, or a reopening of the case by the NTSB itself, alleging that crucial evidence was withheld from the final report, which could give cause to bring charges of criminal negligence in the case.

With Rosenker exiting, its likely that efforts will again be made to reopen the Ethan Allen investigation.

There were other allegations about flawed reports and investigations by the NTSB, particularly the Office of Marine Safety, during Rosenkers tenure as acting chairman. And Ford was not the only former high-level member of the NTSB investigations team to levy charges of ineptness, incomplete investigations and alleged withholding of evidence regarding the findings of final reports in the marine division.

Rosenker is delaying his departure until an additional board member is confirmed to assure a quorum remains at the board. He is a retired major general in the Air Force Reerve.

NTSB member Kathryn (Kitty) OLeary Higgins also submitted her resignation to President Obama. It was effective Aug. 3.

Higgins joined the board in January 2006.