 Immediately after the Apollo 1 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 . 
