Keelan McNulty, recipient of the 2026 Michelle North Scholarship for Safety and US Army veteran, is a pilot and safety coordinator at Corewell Health Aero Med in northern Michigan.
VAI scholarship strengthens SMS for Keelan McNulty’s air ambulance team
Discover how VAI scholarship recipients have turned opportunity into achievement—and how you can do the same—in this exclusive VAI Weekly series.
The VAI scholarship program is back for 2027, with scholarships available for students, professional aviation mechanics/engineers, and commercial helicopter pilots.
A benefit exclusively for VAI members, the scholarships help vertical aviation pilots, mechanics, engineers, and aspiring professionals cover the costs of their education and training. Not a VAI member? Join the association and enjoy access to the VAI scholarship program as well as a host of additional educational, safety, and other benefits. Applications for a 2027 VAI scholarship award must be received by 11:59 pm eastern time (UTC-5) on Dec. 4, 2026.
During this scholarship season, VAI Weekly is highlighting past VAI scholarship winners in an exclusive series of articles. In this installment, we hear from Keelan McNulty, recipient of the 2026 Michelle North Scholarship for Safety. McNulty talks about parallels he’s found between his military and commercial careers as a pilot, his educational focus on safety, and his dream job in aviation (spoiler alert: He’s already living it!).
VAI Weekly: What inspires you about the idea of working in the vertical aviation community?
Keelan McNulty: My daily inspiration comes from the team members I work with as a pilot and safety coordinator at Corewell Health Aero Med. From my fellow pilots to our flight nurses, our team exemplifies complete professionalism. Flying in the US Army for eight years, I had the opportunity to build cohesion and camaraderie that felt irreplaceable. However, I’ve found some very similar parallels in the civilian air ambulance side of the industry. The work to save lives and give every patient their best chance of survival, demanding precision and complete teamwork, is the same in the military as in the civilian sector. The inspiration is simple: I look around and see a team working at a very high level to accomplish one main objective.
How has the VAI scholarship helped you meet your educational goals?
The Michelle North safety scholarship has enhanced my role as the safety committee representative for our team. The classes I was able to attend at VERTICON 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia, as a benefit of the scholarship have aided the growth and development of our safety management system [SMS] as well as the development of our new flight risk assessment tool. My future education goals will continue down the safety lane and, hopefully, my involvement with VAI will guide my growth.
What are your professional goals for the next three to five years? What are your long-term career goals?
My professional goal for the next three to five years is to implement our new SMS manual by May 2027 and continue to promote and educate our team on the new SMS procedures. In the fall of 2027, I’ll attend the Association of Air Medical Services’ Safety Management Training Academy to further enhance my safety management skills. My long-term career goals are to continue flying the line as a safe and efficient team member and potentially become director of operations.
What would be your dream job in aviation?
I am completely serious about saying this, but I am living it right now! I have an amazing family, I live in an amazing town, with a perfect work schedule of three 12-hour shifts a week, and I ride my bike to work. Our mission is to help people and give them their best chance of survival. This is my dream job!
Who is your greatest mentor and why? In what ways has this mentor helped you?
I’ve had many mentors from the army until now. So many names and so many amazing pilots, but I have to say my greatest mentor right now sits across the hallway from our pilot office. His name is Josh Snow, one of our King Air fixed-wing pilots. He and I served together in the army at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, when he started his career as a UH-60 Black Hawk pilot. After flying rotary wing for six years, he transitioned to the fixed-wing side of operations. We luckily were able to hire him in 2024, and his skill set makes everyone around him better. His aviation knowledge is the best, and he’s always willing to explain his understanding of weather patterns, operational hazards, regulations, etc.
What do you see as the biggest challenge facing the vertical aviation industry?
I think our biggest challenge is to continue to collaborate with the UAS [unmanned aircraft system] world. We need to focus on working together and creating a safe aviation operating airspace, understanding each other’s capabilities, and setting parameters to work within.
