Greg Feith was the keynote speaker at the 2025 National Business Aviation Association Maintenance Conference held from April 29 to May 1 and we take you there!

This special edition of the Flight Safety Detectives features Greg as he discusses a range of topics, focusing on the central role that safety plays throughout aviation.

Greg discusses recent incidents. He offers in-depth details of two accidents that he investigated to illustrate how relatively minor maintenance oversights led to the loss of the aircraft and the deaths of everyone on board.
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A crash of a DC-8 cargo aircraft in Rancho Cordova, California that he investigated while at the NTSB was found to be maintenance related. A second crash in Nebraska involved a Beechcraft Baron that he investigated as a consultant, where he proved that the accident happened because of maintenance errors and not pilot errors.

Recent air traffic control issues at Newark Liberty Airport and the recent dismissal of an NTSB board member signal significant aviation safety issues in the US.

Since early May, Newark Airport has experienced significant flight disruptions due to radar outages and shortages of air traffic controllers. The current FAA administrator blames the previous administration for these problems. What’s the truth?

These issues have been ongoing for more than a decade for many reasons.

• Delayed infrastructure improvements
• Aging air traffic controller workforce
• Increased demand for flight operations at Newark

Add to this that there aren’t enough trained air traffic controllers. A combination of retirements, COVID hiring freezes, and flawed hiring policy changes have limited the number of potential new controllers.
John Goglia and Todd Curtis discuss possible air traffic controller mental health issues that may arise from a combination of stress from long hours and high workload. Negative news coverage from both traditional and online media compounds the situation.
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NTSB board member Alvin Brown was removed without explanation in May. Brown is a former mayor of Jacksonville, Florida. He was a board member since March 2024 and vice chair since December 2024. This is the first time a Board member had been removed in such a fashion. Todd and John speculate that Brown was dismissed because of his close association with the Democratic Party.

NFF Aviation Services has announced that five of its aviation maintenance professionals have been awarded the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

This honor recognizes individuals who have exhibited professionalism, skill and dedication to aviation safety through 50 years of service in the aircraft maintenance industry.

The award is named after Charles Taylor, the first aviation mechanic in powered flight and the man behind the engine that powered the Wright brothers’ aircraft. It is one of the highest honors bestowed by the FAA upon mechanics who have contributed to the field of aviation maintenance.

The five recipients from NFF Aviation Services are:

• Patrick J. Gallagher
• Harold H. Rutledge
• Edward Meegan
• Bruce Kukuruda
• Bernie Blanco

​Each of these individuals has spent decades ensuring the safety and reliability of aircraft, mentoring younger technicians and upholding industry standards. Their collective expertise has been instrumental in advancing the mission of NFF Aviation Services and maintaining its reputation.

A professor at Blue Ridge Community College who started its Aviation Maintenance program has received a prestigious award from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Fred Dyen, Aviation Maintenance Program Director and professor at BRCC, has more than 50 years of service as an FAA-certified mechanic. He is the recipient of the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award. His name will be placed on the Roll of Honor for the award.

The award is named in honor of Charles Taylor, the first aviation mechanic in powered flight who is credited with designing and building the engine of the Wright Brothers’ first successful aircraft.
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“We are so proud of Dr. Dyen and of all that he has done for the aviation maintenance profession throughout his career,” BRCC President Dr. John Downey said. “This award recognizes his life-long commitment to educate and train the next generation of aviation maintenance technicians.”

Helicopters and offshore oil platform operations can be a deadly combination. John Goglia and Todd Curtis discuss two accidents to illustrate aviation safety concerns.

In a 2010 accident discussed, maintenance and managerial failures resulted in minor damage and no injuries because of the pilot’s skill. Another is a fatal accident that killed all on board due to the pilot not following the helicopter operator’s standard procedures for landing and taking off.

In the 2010 accident there were multiple missed inspections by mechanics and pilots over several days, including the accident flight. The poor maintenance effort led to system malfunctions that prevented the pilot from fully controlling the helicopter, forcing the pilot to make a running landing at about 45 knots.
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In a 2022 accident, the pilot landed away from the center of the helideck and the rear of the right skid was over the edge of the helipad and adjacent to a raised perimeter light. When the pilot took off, the right skid contacted a perimeter light, causing the helicopter to roll sharply to the right. The helicopter struck the helideck, rolled off the oil rig, and sank. The pilot has a documented history of not following takeoff and landing procedures on most of his flights to and from oil rigs.

Carson Valley resident James “Jim” Nunnelee was recently surprised by members of the Experimental Aviation Association at the Carson City Airport when representatives of the Federal Aviation Administration presented him with two significant awards that recognize over 50 years of aviation prowess.

Nunnelee received the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award and the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award on March 20.

Eligibility for both awards are for pilots and senior aviation mechanics who have at least 50 years of experience in being a pilot and operation; and in aviation maintenance industry, for the Master Mechanic Award, 30 of these years must have been served as an FAA-certified mechanic or repairman.
Only a handful of recipients have received

Federal Aviation Administration Safety Team Program Manager Larry Cheek said that in all his years of presenting the awards only a handful have received both. Only 3,470 people have received the Master Mechanic Award and 8,410 Wright Brothers Mater Pilot awards.

Nunnelee, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, began his aviation experience earning his student pilot certificate in April 1958. In November of the same year he earned his A&P Mechanic Certificate. Three years later he received his Private Pilot Certificate and in 1978 enhanced his aviation mechanics resume with his Inspection Authorization Certificate.

A pilot with many hours of experience and an instructor rating died following the bad decision to fly his newly purchased airplane without first understanding how the aircraft systems operate. He also did not review the logbooks or have the plane looked over after 10 years sitting idle.

The pilot had purchased a Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche. Key facts in the NTSB report and public docket show that the pilot did not have a pre-buy inspection, was not familiar with the aircraft’s systems, and ignored the advice of his friend and former CFI to not fly.

The pilot knew about a landing gear indication light problem before takeoff. He proceeded without resolving it or reviewing the appropriate emergency procedures for operating the landing gear. The plane stalled and crashed while he tried to troubleshoot the issue in flight.

In this analysis with John Goglia and Todd Curtis, Greg Feith shares that he is currently in the process of buying a used airplane. Like the accident pilot, the aircraft has not flown in several years. Unlike the accident pilot, he is working closely with an experienced mechanic to make the aircraft airworthy and to examine all systems on the aircraft.

Greg is frustrated with the quality of the decisions made by the pilot before and during the flight. He’s further critical of the NTSB’s analysis of this accident. The probable cause statement focuses on a stall that happened at the end of the flight rather than all the pilot actions before and during the flight.

“[The NTSB probably cause statement is] so vanilla. It is such a cop-out,” Greg says.
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This accident is a result of poor aeronautical decision-making by the pilot and the actions of others around the pilot who failed to assert proper safety practices.