Christopher Hart

Christopher A. Hart is the founder of Hart Solutions LLP, which specializes in improving safety in a variety of contexts, including the safety of automation in motor vehicles, workplace safety, and process safety in potentially hazardous industries.

Mr. Hart is also Chairman of the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission, a three-jurisdictional agency (MD, VA, DC) that was created in 2019 to oversee the safety of the Washington area subway system. In addition, in 2019 he was asked by the Federal Aviation Administration to lead the Joint Authorities Technical Review that was created bring together the certification authorities of 10 countries, as well as NASA, to review the robustness of the FAA certification of the flight control systems of the Boeing 737 MAX and make recommendations as needed to improve the certification process. Also, in 2021 he was asked to join the Board of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the non-government organization that accredits hospitals, to help improve healthcare safety. He was also invited in 2021 to be on the FAA Management Advisory Council. After an Uber test vehicle struck and killed a pedestrian in Tempe, AZ, in 2018, and Uber terminated such tests on public streets, Mr. Hart was included in the team of experts that Uber engaged to recommend how to safely resume street testing, which it has done.

From 2009 until 2018 Mr. Hart was Chairman, Vice Chairman, and a Member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), having been nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the Senate. The NTSB investigates major transportation accidents in all modes of transportation, determines the probable causes of the accidents, and makes recommendations to prevent recurrences. He was previously a Member of the NTSB in 1990, having been nominated by (the first) President Bush.

Mr. Hart’s previous positions have included:

Deputy Director, Air Traffic Safety Oversight Service, Federal Aviation Administration,
Assistant Administrator for System Safety, FAA,
Deputy Administrator for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Deputy Assistant General Counsel to the Department of Transportation,
Managing partner of Hart & Chavers, a Washington, D.C., law firm, and
Attorney with the Air Transport Association.

Mr. Hart has a law degree from Harvard Law School and a Master’s Degree and a Bachelor’s Degree (magna cum laude) in Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and the Lawyer-Pilots Bar Association, and he is a pilot with commercial, multi-engine, and instrument ratings as well as a Cessna Citation SIC Type Rating.