Engen to Quit as FAA Chief, Go Into Business

Donald Engen, who has led the Federal Aviation Administration during three of the airline industry’s most tumultuous years, announced today that he is resigning and will return to private business.

Engen, 62, gave no reason for his decision to leave the agency, which regulates airline safety, in July, except to say he plans to end four decades of government service and work “in the best interests of aviation” outside the government.

He has been FAA administrator since April, 1984. For two years before that, he served as a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates airline accidents.

A retired vice admiral and test pilot, Engen has been given high marks among members of Congress for managing the FAA. Nevertheless, the agency has often been criticized for moving too slowly on aviation safety matters, including the rebuilding of the air traffic control system in the wake of the mass firings of striking controllers in August, 1981.

Letter to President

Engen made known his intention to resign in a letter to President Reagan last Friday, an agency spokesman said.

In a statement today, Engen called the U.S. aviation system “the safest and most efficient in the world” and said the FAA “has played the lead role in maintaining and enhancing air safety and air transportation efficiency.”

Engen was picked for the top FAA post in early 1984 by Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Hanford Dole after FAA Administrator J. Lynn Helms resigned because of personal legal problems.

Dole also is expected to leave the Transportation Department later this year and join the presidential campaign of her husband, Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.).