Contact: Dan Hubbard, 202-783-9360, dhubbard@nbaa.org
Washington, DC, Sept. 28, 2020 – The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) will host the annual Single-Pilot Safety Standdown on Oct. 5-6 in an all-new virtual setting, as part of its Week of Aviation Excellence. The free event will bring world-class expertise to participants pursuing mastery of their aircraft and top performance at all times.
Register now to attend the Single-Pilot Safety Standdown for free.
Monday, Oct. 5, 2020
- The Quest for Mastery
11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. (EDT)
The day starts with a framework for excellence in single-pilot operations. NBAA Safety Committee members Chris Provencio, Todd Hotes and Tom Huff kick-off the Single-Pilot Safety Standdown with this introspective look at the perpetual journey to mastery. Learn the characteristics that define the continuum of professional piloting and recommended practices that can make single-pilot aviators safer.
- Ambiguous Cockpit Indications
1 – 2 p.m. (EDT)
What to do when instrumentation and aircraft indications don’t line up? Citation Jet Pilots’ Chairman (CJP) Tom Abood, Safety Education Director David Miller and other leaders will walk through a scenario involving an iced-over Angle of Attack indicator. Interactive discussion and videos will show pilots how to work through a similar situation in their aircraft.
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020
- Excellence on Approach
11 a.m. – Noon (EDT)
The complexities of approach and landing drive a significant percentage of accidents.
Learn from Citation Jet Pilots Master Instructor Neil Singer, former astronaut and retired U.S. Air Force colonel Charlie Precourt and other experts how to execute a stable approach – and avoid becoming a statistic.
- Options for Success and Keynote: Flight Operations Leadership and Lessons from a Single-Pilot Accident
1 – 2:30 p.m. (EDT)
The American Bonanza Society’s Tom Turner will walk through a real-world, stress-filled flight to highlight the importance of standard operating procedures and preflight and contingency planning. As the Executive Director of the society’s Air Safety Foundation, Turner knows how single-pilot operators can reinforce each other’s safety performance.
Cirrus Aircraft’s Todd Simmons will share his experiences as a personal and business aviator, and how a culture of safety shapes his company. Sharing lessons he learned from a personal aircraft accident as the pilot-in-command, Simmons will explain how those insights have reinforced a companywide commitment to single-pilot safety.
Learn more about the Single-Pilot Safety Standdown speakers:
Tom Abood
Chairman, Citation Jet Pilots
Tom Abood is chairman and CEO of EVO Transportation and Energy Services, a national freight transportation company. Previously, he was an owner and executive vice president of Dougherty Financial Group. As the chairman of the board for CJP, he leads the board in setting direction for fulfilling CJP’s mission and safety programming.
Flying since 1997, Abood holds commercial and private pilot certificates, and a type rating in Cessna 525 series jets. He has owned five aircraft including his current CJ3 and has 4,000 hours, mostly single-pilot cross-country time.
Todd Hotes
Flight Operations Manager & Chief Pilot, Polymer Resources
Todd Hotes is currently the department manager and chief pilot of Polymer Resources, LTD., an engineering thermoplastic compound manufacturer. Todd leads the part 91 and 135 (via Clay Lacy) flight operations, captaining the PC-24 and CJ3.
Hotes holds an ATP license, type ratings in four aircraft, and is a current CFI. His professional experience spans Part 121 as a check airman, 135 and 91 operations.
Tom Huff
Aviation Safety Officer, Gulfstream Aerospace
As the chair of NBAA’s Safety Committee, Tom Huff leads the association’s focus on top safety priorities across the industry. At Gulfstream, he oversees safety across the product lifecycle. Following the loss of a Gulfstream VI test airplane and crew in 2011, he implemented a safety management system (SMS) in flight test, engineering and flight operations.
Huff retired from the Navy after 28 years, where he led an FA-18 squadron, the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School and was the wing commander for test programs at Naval Air Station Patuxent River.
David Miller
Director, Programs and Safety Education, Citation Jet Pilots
David Miller has owned a variety of aircraft from turboprops to mid-size jets for more than 50 years, flying extensively to meet new customers for his car polish manufacturing business.
With over 6,000 hours logged, Miller has been a CJP member since 2008 and serves on the group’s safety committee. He has studied aviation accidents since his father’s business partner died flying a Beech Bonanza in 1974. He writes a monthly column, “On Final,” for Twin & Turbine magazine, where he applies those lessons to the non-technical side of flying.
Charlie Precourt
VP & General Manager, Propulsion Systems, Northrop Grumman
A retired Air Force colonel and former astronaut, Charlie Precourt has logged over 11,000 hours in more than 90 different types of aircraft – including four space flights. He held several leadership roles at NASA, including deputy program manager for the International Space Station and chief of the Astronaut Corps.
An NBAA board member, Precourt is also chairman of the CJP Safety Committee and vice chairman of the board for the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). He is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School.
Chris Provencio
Director, Flight Safety & Security, Textron Aviation
With 24 years of experience at Cessna/Textron Aviation, Chris started his civilian career as a demo pilot for five years and then served as the demonstration flight operations chief pilot for an additional 13 years. In 2014, after joining forces with Beechcraft, Chris was promoted to the general manager position at the San Antonio Service Center. Returning back to Wichita, KS in 2019, Provencio leads a team of outstanding flight safety specialists and air safety investigators.
He is very active in the NBAA and Citation Jet Pilot safety committees. Provencio has accumulated over 9,500 hours and is also a U.S. Air Force and Kansas Air National Guard veteran of almost 14 years, serving as an instructor and aircraft commander in the OA-37, F-16, and B-1 aircraft.
Neil Singer
Master Instructor, CJP Safety Consultant
A five-time Master CFI, Neil Singer is a business aircraft pilot, pilot examiner on Embraer Phenoms and Cessna Citations with over 10,000 hours and 20 years of experience as an instructor.
Singer is a regular contributor to the “Mentor Matters” series in AOPA’s Turbine Pilot magazine and has been published in IFR, Contrails and Twin & Turbine. He regularly speaks at Embraer and Citation type clubs’ events.
Todd Simmons
President, Customer Experience, Cirrus Aircraft
Todd Simmons leads all customer-facing activities at Cirrus, including sales and marketing, aircraft delivery, flight training, service and support. He oversees the company’s Vision Center in Knoxville, TN and is type-rated in the SF50 Vision Jet.
With over 25 years of leadership in aviation, Simmons has served as a senior manager at Delta Airlines and president of CubCrafters, a restorer of light sport airplanes. An instrument-rated commercial pilot, he also has a passion for tailwheel and backcountry flying.
Thomas P. Turner
Executive Director, Air Safety Foundation, American Bonanza Society
At the Air Safety Foundation, Thomas Turner guides the education efforts of the world’s largest type club, with over 10,000 Bonanza members. Inducted into the Flight Instructor Hall of Fame, he holds an ATP license and a master’s degree in aviation safety.
A frequent speaker on practical flying tips and prolific author, Turner contributes to Aviation Safety, Twin & Turbine, AVWeb, and his weekly blog Flying Lessons. In his writing, he stresses aircraft mastery and pilot performance.
The Single-Pilot Safety Standdown is part of NBAA’s Virtual Safety Week, which also includes the National Aviation Safety Forum and a brand new Safety Town Hall with premiere journalist Miles O’Brien, industry legends John and Martha King and safety authority Richard McSpadden, former Thunderbirds lead pilot, and current executive director of AOPA’s Aviation Safety Institute.
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Founded in 1947 and based in Washington, DC, the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) is the leading organization for companies that rely on general aviation aircraft to help make their businesses more efficient, productive and successful. The association represents more than 11,000 company and professional members and provides more than 100 products and services to the business aviation community, including the NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE), the world’s largest civil aviation trade show. Learn more about NBAA at nbaa.org.
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