By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said that he had appointed a former senior aviation official as the acting head of the Federal Aviation Administration administrator.
The announcement comes after an American Airlines regional passenger jet collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River near Reagan Washington National Airport.
Chris Rocheleau, a U.S. Air Force veteran who worked at the FAA for more than 20 years, was previously chief operating officer of the National Business Aviation Association. Sources said Liam McKenna, who was the counsel to the Senate Commerce Committee, has been named chief counsel at the FAA.
Sources told Reuters that Rocheleau has been at the FAA since last week.
Mike Whitaker, who was unanimously confirmed as the FAA administrator in October 2023, stepped down on Jan. 20 when Trump took office. Trump has not named a nominee to replace Whitaker and the FAA for 10 days has declined to say who was running the agency on an acting basis.
(Reporting by Steve Holland, David Shepardson and Daphne Psaledakis, Editing by Franklin and Nick Zieminski)
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