David Kerley

ABC News' Senior Transportation Correspondent

ByABC News
December 6, 2019, 3:42 PM
David Kerley
David Kerley
Randy Sager/ABC

— -- David Kerley is the Senior Transportation Correspondent for ABC News based in Washington, DC. He joined the network in 2004 and covers aviation, railroads, the automobile industry, and space for all ABC News broadcast and digital properties, including "World News Tonight," "Good Morning America," "Nightline," ABC News Radio, and ABCNews.com.

Since joining ABC News, Kerley’s work has taken him around the world, traveling to every continent except Antarctica, covering breaking news stories, including the shooting of Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise and several deadly mining disasters in West Virginia. He also broke the news worldwide that some systems on missing jetliner MH370 were intentionally shut off.

Kerley was the first ABC News correspondent on the scene of the Virginia Tech shootings and he has also covered presidents, presidential campaigns and several political battles on Capitol Hill.

In August 2005, he covered Hurricane Katrina from the eye of the storm as it came ashore in Biloxi, Miss. Following Katrina, he reported from Key West, Fla., as Hurricane Rita made landfall, and weeks later in Cancun, Mexico, he and his crew rode out more than 51 hours of Hurricane Wilma's Category 4 winds.

During a half dozen assignments in Iraq, Kerley covered the beginning of the "Sons of Iraq" movement, which helped end hostilities. Kerley broke news on adulterated products from China -- such as lead paint on toys and contaminated pet food -- and has reported from China on several occasions. He has also reported on the continuous fatal crashes of Boeing aircrafts in 2018.

For ABC News' "Up to Speed" series, Kerley reports on all things related to transportation from railroads to aviation and space travel. On this program, he has interviewed some of the biggest names in the transportation industry such as United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz and Sir Richard Branson.

Kerley is an Emmy award winning journalist and has been honored with Peabody and Edward R. Murrow awards. His reporting on wasteful government spending earned him the prestigious Joan Barone award from the Capitol Hill Radio and Television Correspondents Association.

Prior to joining ABC News, Kerley spent more than 20 years anchoring and reporting in several cities. Most recently he was the primary anchor at WBBM-TV in Chicago. Before his work in Chicago, Kerley worked for stations in Seattle, Boise, Idaho and Santa Maria, California.

He received a bachelor of science in journalism from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. A native of Southern California, Kerley and his wife, Janet, have two children.