A senior air safety investigator has been named head of the Alaska regional office of the National Transportation Safety Board.

NTSB Chairman Deborah A. P. Hersman on Monday announced Clint Johnson as chief of the Office of Aviation Safety's Anchorage regional office.

Hersman says in the announcement that Johnson has deep roots in Alaska.

He has been investigator-in-charge of more than 700 Alaska aviation accidents in Alaska and around the world.

Johnson as a senior air safety investigator has worked in the Alaska regional office for 15 years. He led the investigation of the crash that killed former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens and four others.

Johnson also serves as the agency lead on helicopter safety and as NTSB liaison to the Helicopter Association International's safety committee.