Jim Burnett, former chairman of NTSB, dies at age 62 in his hometown of Clinton, Ark.

Former NTSB chief dies in Clinton, Ark., hometown

CLINTON, Ark. — Jim Burnett, the chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board for six years, has died at the age of 62, a funeral home official said.

Burnett was named to the NTSB in 1981 by then-President Ronald Reagan. He served on the board until 1991 and fulfilled the role of chairman from 1982 to 1988.

Bobby Ray Bradford, manager of Roller-McNutt Funeral Home in Clinton, said Burnett died Saturday at Ozark Health Nursing Center of complications from diabetes.

Burnett was active in Republican Party affairs and had been GOP national committeeman from Arkansas since 2004.

Born in Little Rock on Sept. 20, 1947, he moved to Clinton with his family and graduated from high school there. Burnett attended the University of Arkansas, where he obtained a law degree in 1973. He also was an alumnus of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Burnett had a reputation as a strong, independent safety advocate during and after his service on the NTSB.

He was active in a campaign to raise the minimum drinking age to 21 across the nation. In 1986, then-first lady Nancy Reagan presented Burnett with the National Commission Against Drunk Driving Award, recognizing his leadership in that campaign.

“Jim was a national leader on transportation safety issues,” the Republican Party of Arkansas said in an announcement of Burnett’s death on its website.

After a train carrying hazardous materials derailed in Louisiana in 1982, Burnett led efforts to adopt federal rules dealing with intoxication of railroad workers, which eventually led to drug and alcohol testing for transportation workers.

In 1994, the IREI Air Safety Foundation of Japan dedicated a monument in Burnett’s honor near the site of a 1985 Japan Airlines crash in Japan, according to information his family members provided to the funeral home. The memorial recognized Burnett’s leadership in aviation safety and accident prevention.

NASA and the United States Space Foundation inducted Burnett into the Space Technology Hall of Fame in 1996 for his work in promoting a fire-resistant aircraft seat.

Survivors include Burnett’s mother, Hazel Baker Burnett of Clinton; a sister, Jo-Beth Shaw of Springdale, Ark.; two nephews and a niece.

A funeral is scheduled for 2 p.m. Thursday at the Choctaw Church of Christ. Burial will follow at the Clinton Cemetery.