Aviation Expert Witnesses in Louisiana

This aviation and aerospace expert is one of the leaders in his industry and has extensive experience in flight test, materials and properties laboratories, unmanned aerial systems, engineering operations, Safety Management Systems and quality. This expert started his career as a United State Army pilot and then advanced to several senior positions with the Federal Aviation Administration(FAA). As Manager Rotorcraft Directorate with the FAA, he was responsible for all FAA Experimental Test Flight policy, training, and administration for over 250 companies. He collaborated with industry to lower the number of fatal accidents from 30 to 14 per year over a five-year average. This expert received the Tony LaVier Award from the Society of Experimental Test Pilots for Lifetime Achievement in Flight Safety. He is a member of numerous prestigious organizations in the aviation field. He has authored 9 publications in the field and is a frequently invited guest speaker at major aviation events. This expert was the 2014 commencement speaker at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University where he also earned his BS in Aeronautical Technology. He received his MS in Aerospace Management at the University of Tennessee Space Institute. Currently, he is the President of an independent aviation consulting firm and President of an international safety and risk management company serving the aviation industry.

This expert has spent more than three decades in the federal government, filling critical national security roles domestically and on behalf of the U.S. government overseas. He previously served as Assistant Administrator of TSA Security Operations, overseeing 450 airports and a $3.7 billion dollar budget. During his tenure, he successfully led a reorganization of the Office of Security Operations (OSO), improving communication with the field, streamlining HQ field management, realigning the Federal Security Director’s staffing and frontline management, and implementing new performance measures, resulting in cost reductions and increased efficiencies throughout the network. He also served in the Senior Executive Service at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), where he worked in key capacities at headquarters and in the field. In August of 2009, He returned to the U.S. after completing his service as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) attaché at the U.S. Embassy in London, where he was the senior homeland security official representing the Secretary of DHS, the TSA Administrator, and the U.S. Chief of Mission for the Embassy in London. He is currently a Senior Advisor at a global security and intelligence consulting firm.

This expert has over 50 years of aviation experience. He earned his BS in aeronautical studies/flight technology from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and his MPA from Troy State University. He is a certified flight instructor, airline transport pilot, and remote pilot. He is a member of the National Air Transportation Association, the Airline Pilots Association, and the International Society of Air Safety Investigators. He previously served as a Captain with US Airways and as the Director of flight services, Chief Pilot, and Deputy Director of aviation at the Texas Department of Transportation. This expert is currently an aviation safety instructor at an aviation training firm and an aviation safety consultant at an aviation consultancy in Texas.