James E. Webb
Immediately after the Apollo1 fire, to avoid appearance of a conflict of interest, NASA Administrator James E. Webb asked President Lyndon B. Johnson to allow NASA to handle the investigation according to its established procedure, promising to be truthful in assessing blame, and to keep the appropriate leaders of Congress informed. Seamans then directed establishment of the "Apollo 204 Review Board" chaired by Langley Research Center director Floyd L. Thompson, which included astronaut Frank Borman, spacecraft designer Maxime Faget, and six others. On February 1, Cornell University professor Frank A. Long left the board, and was replaced by Dr. Robert W. Van Dolah, of the U.S. Bureau of Mines. The next day, North American's chief engineer for Apollo, George Jeffs, also left.