Aviation Expert Witnesses

This certified helicopter pilot has over 10 years of experience. After earning his BA in geology from the University of San Francisco he began his career as a pilot. He has flown commercially throughout the United States, Africa, and the Middle East. He has served in many pilot positions including a contract pilot position for HeliClass, a corporate helicopter pilot for E&J Gallo Winery, EMS Pilot for STAT MedEvac at John Hopkins Hospital, and as a pilot for offshore emergency response in Angola. He currently serves as a contract and instructor pilot for two energy companies.

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.

This expert has over 15 years of experience in aviation and air traffic control. He earned his BA in humanities and French from Simon Fraser University and is licensed in air traffic control and as a commercial pilot by Transport Canada. He previously served as a flight instructor at Edmonton Flying Club and as an air traffic controller, team supervisor, and shift manager at NAV CANADA. He is currently an air traffic controller at an air navigation services firm in British Columbia.

This highly qualified aviation expert has over 38 years of experience in many facets of aviation including rotor and fixed-wing aircraft maintenance, FAA regulatory, engineering, factory training, pilot and technician instruction, management and aviation business development and ownership. He earned a certificate in airframe and powerplants from the College of San Mateo. This expert has earned several licenses and certifications throughout his career including being a licensed private pilot and inspection authorization. He is certified as a maintenance technician instructor and an aviation maintenance technician. He has held several roles including senior manufacturer technician and maintenance instructor at Agusta/Westland Aircraft Manufacturer, lead technician at Advanced Helicopters, and director of maintenance at REACH Air Medical Services. He also was the president and principal of his own company Power Aviation Services before he sold it and is now the lead inspector of a helicopter service company in California.

This highly qualified expert is a certified director of safety with 8 years of experience in the upstream oil & gas industry in managing Department of Transportation compliance and HSE system as well as a comprehensive working knowledge of SH&E issues and governmental regulations. He received his BS in organizational leadership at Mountain State University before going on to complete his MA in business and organizational leadership at Webster University in St. Louis. He is a certified director of safety, advanced accident reconstructionist and aircraft crash investigator. He has previously served as a Texas state trooper for the Texas Department of Public Safety and currently serves in public safety as the director for the national investigative services division at an organization in Georgia specializing in homeland security. He has also previously served as safety director, manager and DOT compliance administrator for various organizations, including, Expedited Logistics and Freight Services, Hyperion Safety Services and Baker Hughes. Currently, he serves as manager for DOT and compliance at a transportation company in Texas.

This highly qualified expert has nearly 40 years of experience in the field of piloting, pilot training and screening, and pilot earning potential. He earned his BS in flight technology at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He is very active in his field as a member of multiple professional societies including the Atlanta Aero Club, the Air Line Pilots Association, the International Air & Transportation Safety Bar Association, the Aircraft Pilots and Owners Association, the National Business Aircraft Association, and the Experimental Aircraft Association. In addition, this expert has authored 9 training manuals and has published numerous articles. This expert has held several roles including military flight training and standardization manager in the US Army, captain and first officer at Capitol Air, and captain at United Airlines. He has also been heavily involved in the training process holding roles as an instructor pilot at Boeing Training Services, simulator and ground instructor at Flight International, Inc., and president and chief instructor of InterFlite, Inc. In addition, he hs formerly served as executive vice president at Future Aviation Professionals of America and president and CEO of Aviation Information Resources, Inc. Currently, this expert is an instructor pilot for a major domestic and international airline service, involved in the furloughed/displaced pilot outplacement services for an airline pilot union, and president of an aviation consulting firm based in Georgia.

This highly-qualified expert has extensive experience in admiralty and maritime law. After earning his BS in marine transportation from Texas A&M University, and this expert went on to complete testing for a US Coast Guard Third Mate Unlimited Any Gross Ton License. He spent seven years sailing on various types and sizes of US Jones Act and international trading tank vessels in charge of navigation watch, cargo operations, deck maintenance and repair, and ISO/ISM safety management compliance, in all officer ranks. After becoming eligible for a US Coast Guard Master Unlimited Any Gross Tons License, this expert served in command of a 48,000 ton US flagged chemical tanker. He later was selected to serve with the Aransas-Corpus Christi Pilots as a state commissioned and federally licensed harbor pilot, in the state of Texas for thirteen years. Over the course of his career, this expert has played major roles in the acceptance and implementation of various professional guidelines, including the first Navigation and Safety Guidelines for the Port of Corpus Christi. Currently, this experts serves as a private maritime consultant based out of Texas.

This expert has extensive experience in photography and videography. He earned his BA in psychology, sociology, and communications from San Diego State University. He is a certified instructor of forensic photography and a licensed real estate broker. He began his career with the San Diego Police Department, serving as a level III reserve officer and a crisis intervention counselor, as well as a photographer. This expert then started his own company, Jacobson & Associates, a property management, brokerage and syndication company. He owned and operated this business for 19 years before transitioning to full time work as a photographer for An Amazing World Photography. This expert currently serves as the president, lead photographer and videographer, and instructor of a forensic photography and videography company in California.

This expert earned his BS in civil engineering at Ohio State University and his MBA at the University of Dallas. He is a professional engineer and has worked in roles such as plant manager of Rowe Machinery, senior program director at Raytheon, the director of the Asia-Pacific maritime program and senior director of air force and commercial programs for L-3Harris, as well as vice president of integrated aviation solutions at BAE Systems. He is currently the principal at an aerospace and defense consulting company in Texas.

This highly-qualified aircraft valuations expert has 40 years of experience in the aviation industry. He earned his BA in aviation management from Southern Illinois University and holds certifications as a senior aircraft appraiser, an airframe and power plant mechanic, an FAA authorized inspector, and aircraft buyer's agent. He is active in his field as a member of the EAA. This expert began his career in aviation as a member of the aircraft maintenance crew in the United States Air Force. He then served as an aircraft mechanic at Crystal Lake Airport, avionics installation and package engineer at Hartzog Aviation before starting his tenure with American Airlines. He worked for American Airlines for 32 years in a variety of roles, including line maintenance mechanic, senior instructor in aircraft maintenance, aircraft maintenance production supervisor, and the aircraft maintenance production and shift manager. Currently, he is the president and owner of an aircraft maintenance and appraisal corporation based in Illinois.

This expert has 40 years of experience in mechanical engineering, specializing in engineering simulation, heat transfer, and fluid dynamics. After earning her BS in math and physics from Heidelberg College, she earned her BS in engineering physics and MS in mechanical engineering from the University of Toledo. She also obtained her PhD in mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of Virginia before beginning a highly successful career in mechanical engineering research and engineering software. She is active in her field as a member of numerous professional organizations and as the author of over 80 journal articles, technical reports, web articles, and seminar presentations. Some of her former positions include serving as the president of Blue Ridge Numerics, Inc., as the vice president of product development for Compuflo, Inc., and as a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of Virginia. In these roles, she conducted extensive research and directed technical simulation software development for 3 companies. Currently, this expert is a senior architect for a technology company.

This expert has 50 years of experience in the field of transportation engineering, focused on pavement design and construction for airports, seaports, and highways. He earned his BS in civil engineering from the City College of New York and licensed as a professional engineer in multiple states. As a consultant he has performed project management, pavement evaluation and design, and forensic studies for over 700 projects at approximately 200 airports throughout the United States and 22 locations internationally including major international airports such as JFK, Washington-Dulles, and Chicago O’Hare. Prior to his position as a consultant, he worked with the FAA as a project engineer and pavement engineer of the Eastern region, as well as the chief engineer of the Washington Airports District Office, where he was involved in the research and development program focused on airport pavements. Currently, he is the president of an engineering firm that works on large scale airport and highway construction throughout the world.

This expert has extensive experience in naval security and the international and domestic defense industry. He earned his BS in mechanical engineering from the US Naval Academy. During his 37-year career with the Navy, he served as a senior naval officer, as a director of warfare requirements, and as a military commander for the Iceland Defense Force. This expert then went on to serve as the corporate direction of naval aviation programs at Lockheed Martin and as the director of business development at Raytheon. Currently, this expert serves as the president of an independent defense industry consultancy in Virginia.

This highly-qualified expert has over 35 years of experience in aviation, as well as a practicing attorney. In addition to being a licensed attorney, he has a private pilot's license and a commercial pilot's license. He earned his BAS in biomedical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and his JD from Pennsylvania State University. He has worked for several law firms throughout his career and, during his time with the DOJ as both an assistant United States attorney and a special assistant United States attorney, this expert worked on numerous aviation-related prosecutions involving airlines and the FAA. He has about 5,000 hours of experience in all types of weather and is familiar with the practices, procedures, operations, issues, and challenges facing pilots. For the last 27 years, he has owned, maintained, and operated systems-based cabin-class piston and turbo-prop aircraft, including a 1977 Piper Turbo Arrow III (PA-28-201RT), a 1969 Beechcraft (Raytheon) Duke (BE60), and, most recently, a 1979 Piper Cheyenne I (PAY1). Currently, this expert is the managing partner of the Philadelphia office for a law firm in Pennsylvania.

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 highly qualified aeronautics expert earned his masters and PhD in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT. He is a fellow in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and an associate fellow in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He has authored more than 100 publications in the aeronautics space and is currently a Professor of Aerospace Engineering at a top midwest university.

This highly qualified expert currently serves as as a Senior Flight Surgeon for the United States Air Force Reserve Medical Corps as well as Adjunct Professor for an aviation university where he teaches Aviation Physiology. He also provides medical examination services to pilots and aviation companies. He is board-certified in Family Medicine and is a member of the Experimental Aircraft Association's Aeromedical Advisory Council. He is an active pilot and was deployed for Operations Noble Eagle, Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and Joint Forge.

This expert earned his PhD in mechanical engineering/aeronautical sciences from the University of California Berkeley and has authored numerous publications in the mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering space. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers and has held numerous professorships relating to multiple facets of engineering. He is the former co-director of the DOT program for motor vehicle trauma at the UCLA schools of engineering and medicine. Currently, this expert is a senior forensic consultant focusing on biomechanics and biomedical engineering.

This expert has several awards such as the USPA Gold, Diamond, and Double Diamond parachutist / skydiver badges, qualifying him as an expert in these two fields of extreme sports. He is highly knowledgeable of the safety regulations of each sport, as he serves as safety adviser and examiner for several committees. He also has several publications and held seminars on skydiving & flying safety issues.

This expert has been involved in aviation for more than 40 years. She spent time as a flight attendant for both American Airlines and Capitol Air, and has been involved in business aviation flying both full time & contract/freelance. She flew full time as a business aviation flight attendant for Coca Cola, DuPont, and others. This expert also runs her own training company, an extensive program designed to train corporate flight attendants in industry protocol and standard operational procedures. She is committed to cabin safety whether Parts 91/135/121.