Safe transportation is her mission: head of federal agency started public affairs career here.(Profile: Ellen Engleman Conners)

If a plane were to crash in Indianapolis--or anywhere in the United States--a Hoosier would be in charge of finding out why.

As chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, Ellen Engleman Conners leads the government agency that investigates more than 2,000 accidents each year in all modes of transportation. It's a demanding job that's become even more so since 9/11.

Sorting accidents from acts of terrorism is a vital part of the job these days, Conners said in a telephone interview from Washington, D.C.

"When an event happens, we may not know which it is. We have to be able to use our full resources and technical skills to get into an event site to formulate as much data as possible ... to ensure we can find out the truth about what happened and why so we can immediately help secure public confidence in the transportation system as well as effect any changes needed to ensure the safety of the system."

Conners, 44, was already aiming for a career in public affairs when she got her bachelor's degree in English and communication media from Indiana University in 1983 and her law degree from IU in 1987. Her first job out of law school was …