Communications Award
Sponsored by HeliValue$, Inc.
For creative distinction in disseminating information about the vertical aviation industry
Paul Kennard
European Editor, Antares magazine
Puriton, Somerset, England
Paul Kennard uses his extensive experience in military and civil helicopter operations and what one nominator called an “honest, direct [and] analytic style of writing” to tackle thorny issues in aviation. He questions authority and policy and is resolute in uncovering and highlighting the facts.
Kennard was captivated by aviation at an early age. He joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) Air Cadets in his native England at 13, won an RAF scholarship to learn to fly at 17, and was flying solo aerobatics by 19. After receiving an honors degree in history from the University of London, Kennard joined the RAF. Upon graduation from flight school, he was recommended for single-seat fighter jets, but with the then-recent collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the world was changing and he was instead assigned to helicopters.
“It didn’t take long in training to realize how magical these machines are,” Kennard recalls. “I did very well in training and was allowed to choose which aircraft I wanted. I chose the Chinook.”
Kennard spent the next 15 years building 2,000 hours flying the CH-47. His military roles included training captain and tactical instructor during deployments in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He later conducted operational test and evaluation flights for new equipment. His final RAF posting entailed running future technology programs that included unmanned aircraft systems (UASs), degraded visual environment mitigation, and midair collision–avoidance system development.
Upon leaving the military, Kennard started his own consultancy supporting high-tech rotorcraft and aerospace projects for industry, NATO, and governments. He also began to write.
“One of the reasons I left the [RAF] was that I had this unfortunate predilection for speaking truth to power, which never goes well in a strict hierarchy,” he explains. “Integrity is doing the right thing, even when nobody else is watching. So I started writing. It became cathartic because it enabled me to get the message out to head off false narratives, particularly [in regard to aviation] accidents.”
Kennard takes issue with the 24/7 news cycle’s compulsion to hastily identify the cause of an accident after it occurs, leading to the regular scapegoating of pilots. He began writing to highlight other, often overlooked causal factors, such as fatigue and operational pressures. Kennard has also written about the UAS and electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) sectors and their integration into the broader aviation ecosystem.
“Aviation is an industry where we should really be learning from everybody else’s mistakes,” Kennard says. “There are no shortcuts. If you try and shortcut aviation, she’ll kill you. … We’ve been doing this for 120-odd years, and we’ve buried hundreds of test pilots in that time. There’s a time to be bold, and there’s a time to be pragmatic. I’m dedicated to giving voice to the latter.”
As another person writing to support Kennard’s nomination for this award noted: “There has never been a questioning of his facts, the robustness of his analysis, and the readability of his writing style.”
W.A. “Dub” Blessing Flight Instructor of the Year Award
Sponsored by Hill Air Corporation
For upholding high standards of excellence in flight instruction
Ken Obi, Owner and Flight Instructor, Orbic Helicopters, Camarillo, California, USA
When Ken Obi came to the United States at age 19 in 1979, he wanted to be a cowboy. With no experience handling livestock, the non–English speaking Japanese native started his journey with a host family in Washington, D.C., where he helped with housework while attending an English-language school. Six months later, Obi landed a job on a horse ranch in Santa Ynez, California, where he hoped to gain cattle-tending skills.
After eight months on the ranch without a day off, Obi began to reevaluate his career choice. “It was a lot of work and not what I’d envisioned,” he says of mucking out stalls, brushing horses, and doing basic cleaning and repair work around the ranch.
Obi relocated to Los Angeles, where he worked for a Japanese film company and a Japanese exporter as he researched options for his future. During that time, he took a demo flight in a Schweizer 300. He had found his calling.
For six years, Obi slowly earned his private and commercial rotorcraft ratings and began building flight time. In 1987, he got a call from his flight school. Japanese flight training was a booming business, and the school needed a Japanese-speaking flight instructor to help train and support incoming students from the island nation. The school covered the cost of Obi’s flight instructor training and put him to work immediately. He flew almost every day, up to eight hours a day, falling in love with flight instruction.
Then, suddenly, the company’s Australian owner was deported because of an expired visa. With an empty company bank account, Obi tried to keep the school going for the students, spending his own money. The students kept coming, but rather than continue with the old business, in 1990 Obi founded Orbic Helicopters in Van Nuys, California.
“It was never my goal to own a flight school,” Obi says. “It’s really hard and no fun. But I really enjoy flying helicopters and teaching students. It was the flying that kept me going all this time.”
While flight skills are important, Obi believes teaching students to use their judgment and develop a safety mindset is paramount. He purposefully kept the school small so he could work directly with students to instill these important values.
“A flight school is not an easy way to make money, though it is important for supporting the industry,” Obi says. “Everyone has to start somewhere, and to keep our industry safe it’s important to have good flight schools that [foster] a safety mentality and teach safe habits.”
Obi used to keep track of the students he signed off for checkrides. He stopped counting at 450 10 years ago. He’s sure he’s flown with half as many more since then. Now in his mid-60s, he continues to teach and pass along his extensive knowledge at Orbic’s current home in Camarillo, California.
“I still enjoy flying helicopters, and I still don’t enjoy running a business,” he says with a laugh.
Matthew S. Zuccaro Land & LIVE Award
Sponsored by Vertical Aviation International
For outstanding aeronautical decision-making, crew resource management, and/or coordinated actions
Elijah Hobbs, Chief Pilot, Jack Harter Helicopters, Lihue, Hawaii, USA
On the afternoon of Feb. 27, 2024, Elijah Hobbs was flying a routine Napali Coast tour on Kauai, Hawaii, in an MD 500 with four passengers when he smelled smoke. Having recently completed a safety course that included oil cooler–belt failures, the chief pilot at Jack Harter Helicopters figured the belt might be the cause.
“As a precaution, I was starting to consider a place to land before the oil temperature spiked, when all of a sudden the engine quit,” Hobbs recalls. “Clearly, it wasn’t the belt—it was everything. When I heard the horn, I immediately started an auto to Honopu Beach, a very small beach surrounded by rock. I really had to focus, as there was a couple-hundred-foot sea cliff if I went too long and rocks and boulders about the size of the aircraft if I was too short.”
Hobbs got only half of a Mayday call out when the rotor rpm began climbing. He returned his full attention to landing and avoiding the rocks. The beach sand was uneven, causing the helicopter’s uphill skid to make contact first. The force of the aircraft rocking hard onto the downhill skid then sheared off the landing gear. The aircraft then rolled onto its nose before coming to rest on its side.
Hobbs quickly cut power to the helicopter and activated the fuel-shutoff valve. He helped the two female passengers who’d been sitting next to him get out of the helicopter.
“When I looked back, both the male passengers popped their heads up out of the side of the aircraft,” he recalls. “The relief was so overwhelming that everyone was alive and moving. I remember thinking, ‘We all survived. It’s all going to be OK.’ ”
Hobbs’s attention turned to one of the female passengers who was complaining of back pain. He had her lie still as he tried to contact his team. The antennas had sheared off the aircraft in the hard landing, but because his company uses satellite communications as emergency backup, Hobbs was able to reach his team and call for a medical airlift. He focused on keeping his passengers informed and comfortable as they waited for their rides back to the airport.
A medical helicopter airlifted the injured passenger to the hospital, and a company aircraft came for the remaining passengers. Hobbs stayed behind until a helicopter returned for him.
An Idaho native, Hobbs learned to fly in his home state in 2009, building time as a flight instructor before moving to the Hawaiian Islands. Today, he credits his 11,000-plus flight hours and intimate knowledge of Kauai with the positive outcome that February day.
“I hope my story encourages others to take their training seriously,” he says. “Practice and repetition lead to good outcomes. It could have been a lot worse had I not had that outlook and training.”
Humanitarian Service
Sponsored by POWER UP magazine
For outstanding service in using rotorcraft to provide aid to those in need
Rotorforce New Zealand, Helicopters Hawkes Bay, and No. 3 Squadron of the Royal New Zealand Air Force
Hastings and Wellington, New Zealand
Cyclone Gabrielle hit New Zealand’s North Island in mid-February 2023, leaving a wake of destruction not seen in a century. The Hawke’s Bay region on the east side of the island experienced the worst of the storm. Record flooding, mudslides, and powerful winds took out homes, bridges, power lines, and cell towers, leaving people stranded without means of communication.
Helicopter operator Rotorforce New Zealand, based at Hastings Aerodrome (NZHS) in Hawke’s Bay, contracts for the local electricity network. On Feb. 13, before the storm hit, CEO Joe Faram prepared his aircraft to respond to the coming weather event.
He didn’t have to wait long to deploy them.
Before sunrise on Feb. 14, the power company called Faram for help. Driving to the aerodrome, he realized the cyclone was worse than he’d anticipated: the airfield was surrounded by water. Before he could even launch his Airbus H125 B3, Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ), the country’s chief firefighting and emergency services body, called for an aircraft for recon flights.
“It was still raining, and there was poor visibility,” Faram recalls. “I only had to go 20 miles, but I struggled to recognize where I was. Everything was underwater, and landmarks were lost. It was unfolding right in front of us.”
Faram brought the FENZ team to his hangar. Meanwhile, unable to reach his other pilot on the phone, Faram flew out to retrieve him, returning to the airfield so he could launch in an MD 500 and join the rescue work. Faram then helped locate Jimmy Guerin, CEO of Helicopters Hawkes Bay, a commercial operator experienced in firefighting. Also based at Hastings Aerodrome, Guerin was able to deploy additional helicopters in the effort.
Across the region, people were stranded on their roofs. In some cases, the rushing water was up to the gutters.
The helicopters worked all day, lifting people to higher ground where police and ambulance services were waiting, or back to the safety of the airfield. With comms down, the helicopters also served as communications relays, picking up radio calls for help and calling them in to FENZ and local police.
Back at Faram’s hangar, FENZ set up base and was soon joined by an ambulance service. When the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) arrived around noon, Faram gave them space to operate as well.
The RNZAF brought three NH90 helicopters and immediately began rescues that required winches while the smaller aircraft continued rescuing and transporting victims. Many of the rescues were harrowing, requiring pilots to hover with one skid over the moving water.
“The Hawke’s Bay rescue was a true team effort,” says Chris Ross, commanding officer of the No. 3 Squadron of the RNZAF. “There were so many helicopters operating all in one relatively small area. Airborne coordination was critical for safe and efficient rescues. The work we safely did in those first few days was remarkable.”
All the aircraft flew until dark that first day, Feb. 14, together with rescuers using inflatable boats, saving an estimated 400 people. By the second day, aircraft were also transporting supplies, food, and medicine. Subsequent days’ work included repairs to power lines, cell networks, and roads. The overall air support went on for eight solid weeks.
“We do appreciate the recognition, but we did it because we were in a position where we could help,” Guerin says of the Humanitarian Service Award. “I’d like to think anyone would do the same.”
Law Enforcement Award
Sponsored by POWER UP magazine
For contributions to the promotion and advancement of rotorcraft in support of law enforcement activities
Air Tactical Group, Public Security Department of Pernambuco State, Brazil
Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
For several days in late May 2022, multiple months’ worth of regional rainfall fell in Brazil’s northeast state of Pernambuco. In the state’s capital, Recife, and surrounding areas on the Atlantic Ocean, the floods and landslides created catastrophic damage that claimed more than 130 lives and left more than 6,100 people homeless.
On May 28, one of the heaviest rainfall days, the Air Tactical Group of the Public Security Department of Pernambuco State (Grupamento Tático Aéreo de Pernambuco, or GTA) in Recife was grounded due to low visibility, having VFR-only Airbus AS350s and an H125. That morning, a flight nurse ran over to the base from an air ambulance airplane requesting help because the ambulance couldn’t make it to the airport through the flooding. After determining they could assist safely, the crew airlifted the critical patient to a hospital.
“That was just the beginning,” recalls GTA Assistant Chief Lt. Col. Heitor Martins. “We had to wait about two hours at the hospital for the rain and low ceiling to pass before we returned to base. We called in all our pilots and crews—about 15 people total at the time—to help with rescues to keep our three aircraft flying.”
As the rain cleared, a post-apocalyptic landscape of water and mud emerged. Thousands of people were stranded on roofs, in trees, and on isolated high ground.
The GTA started rescuing people, in one case returning time and again to one house with 19 people on the roof. With rescue baskets attached to the aircraft, GTA crews were able to lift 63 people from their roofs in the first few hours. They also assisted firefighters in rescuing thousands more by guiding and transporting fire department personnel and equipment.
The group’s half a dozen pilots and its mechanics and crews worked around the clock, taking short breaks, first rescuing and transporting people to safety and the hospital, then delivering critical food, water, medicine, and other supplies to communities in the hardest-hit areas that had become completely cut off by the destruction. The GTA also partnered with the not-for-profit organization Vizinhos Solidários, delivering additional food, water, clothes, and bedding to isolated communities.
The critical humanitarian work continued for a month as the group’s aircraft made up for lost roads and bridges.
“It was very heavy work and unique for our unit,” Martins says. “We’d only recently been reorganized from military police to an integrated team of military firefighters, military police, and civil police under the Office of the Secretary of Public Security [Secretaria de Defesa Social] in Pernambuco.”
The GTA’s work didn’t go unnoticed. Due in large part to the group’s considerable support during what turned out to be the state’s worst natural disaster on record, the GTA received a boost in funding. Its fleet has since grown to three Airbus AS350 B2s, one H125, two H130s, and four airplanes. Additionally, the unit recently took delivery of its first twin-engine IFR helicopter, an Airbus H135.
“The [rainfall] event showed the government how important our unit could be in this type of scenario,” Martins says. “We can do much more now with IFR capabilities.”
Golden Hour Award
Sponsored by POWER UP magazine
For distinguished and outstanding service utilizing rotorcraft in air medical transport
Toll Ambulance Rescue Helicopter Service
New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Not only has Toll Ambulance Rescue Helicopter Service conducted thousands of golden-hour missions, where providing trauma victims with rapid access to medical treatment has been shown to improve outcomes, but the organization has been instrumental in expanding the delivery of critical care to communities in Australia’s New South Wales (NSW) and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).
Toll operates eight standardized Leonardo AW139 single-pilot IFR and night-vision goggles–capable helicopters from four bases throughout the Southern Zone of NSW and the ACT. The operator maintains an impressive average response time of under 10 minutes during the day and under 20 minutes at night.
While Toll serves as operator, the medical service comprises three teams: NSW Ambulance, ACT Ambulance, and NETS (Newborn and Paediatric Emergency Transport Service). Together, they perform more than 3,000 critical-care missions a year on land and over water, including full-service air ambulance support, search-and-rescue operations, and interhospital transport. Most flights carry a critical-care doctor and paramedic except when a specialist doctor and nurse are needed for interhospital transfers of neonates and small children.
By the end of 2024, Toll Ambulance Rescue Helicopter Service had flown more than 32,000 hours since it began providing air ambulance support in 2017.
With an integrated standardized model, Toll crews train together and maintain clinical, operational, and aviation currencies together. Pilots and aircrew officers train alongside critical-care paramedics, doctors, and flight nurses multiple times a year. With a deeply complex range of missions, the entire operation benefits from an integrated and holistic approach.
“We provide the widest range of services in the world, and the mission complexity we face every day requires a standardized crew that can respond to every task,” says Dr. Sarah Coombes, executive director of NSW Ambulance Aeromedical Operations. “Our mission reviews inform our training, and our training informs our next mission in a constant learning cycle. The standardized aircraft, procedures, and operations make the job smoother and safer.”
This degree of teamwork enables Toll Ambulance Rescue Helicopter Service to provide lifesaving support within the golden hour, as it did for a bushwalker bitten by a snake in November 2024. That day, as the effects of the venom took hold, the victim described the serpent to the aeromedical coordinator. By working with a snake-venom expert, the team narrowed down the potential culprits.
The crew picked up the appropriate antivenom treatments, flew out, and winch-inserted the medical team into the bush. A rapid clinical assessment enabled further discussion with a toxicologist and the correct antivenom was administered. The patient was then winched into the AW139 and received ongoing critical care during transport to a hospital with a toxicology service. Thanks to Toll Ambulance Rescue Helicopter Service’s readiness and preparation, he made a full recovery.
Safety Award
Sponsored by BLR Aerospace
For outstanding contributions to the promotion of rotorcraft safety and safety awareness
LifeFlight of Maine, Bangor, Maine, USA
In November 1993, a fatal accident caused Maine’s helicopter air medical services program to close, leaving it as the only US state i without dedicated medical helicopters. After fuel starvation was named as a key cause of the accident, emphasis was put on finding a replacement service with a safety model designed for the typical low-altitude, off-site operations required by helicopter air ambulance services.
Not just any safety model would do, however, given the demographic, environmental, and geographic challenges Maine presents. In addition to being the country’s second-most rural state by population distribution and the state with the greatest percentage of people 65 and older, Maine has the most complex and hostile aviation weather of any US state other than Alaska. Extreme temperatures, dense forests, coastal and inland mountains, the Labrador Current’s dense fog, and a service area of over 40,000 sq. mi. that includes hundreds of islands create considerable operational challenges.
In 1998, LifeFlight of Maine was founded as a nonprofit charitable organization by air medical services veteran Tom Judge with the help of then–Gov. Angus King, now a US senator representing Maine, and state health-care leader Dr. Norm Dinerman.
Judge and Dinerman created a system and culture dedicated to safety, removing institutional hurdles such as pressure from leadership to fly. “Three to go, one to say no” became the mantra for flight crews. Transparency; honesty; safety briefings, committees, and training; post-incident safety reviews; and uncompromising standards throughout were coded into the DNA of the program and persist to this day.
When LifeFlight of Maine started, the state had virtually no infrastructure for air medical services. Only 2 of Maine’s 36 hospitals had helipads, and both were in rural locations. There was no communication system that connected air medical services in the state, the limited instrument flight infrastructure was confined to larger airports, northern Maine had limited refueling options, and only a handful of aviation weather systems, all located at large airports, were available to air medical crews.
To ensure the highest level of safety possible, LifeFlight of Maine’s team built a “safety envelope” environment around its employees and patients, raising private and public funding to build out infrastructure as well as influencing new policy at the state and federal levels to support low-altitude aviation.
Private foundations and Maine’s commercial sector provided funding support for a handful of hospital helipads. Working with the Maine Department of Transportation, LifeFlight received state legislature support and three voter-approved public obligation transportation bonds supporting aviation infrastructure. Further state and federal funding over the years helped expand airports and their systems as well as increase the number of weather stations.
The result has been not only a viable and successful air medical program but an overall system that safely supports the state’s emergency management needs. Today, Maine has a comprehensive infrastructure focused on safety, including 33 hospital and 10 community helipads, over 800 predesignated emergency-landing areas, 120 remote-access landing zones, 16 automated weather observing systems, 35 weather cameras, a statewide communications system for all emergency communications, more than 100 helicopter instrument procedures at hospitals and on islands, multiple new LPV runway procedures for alternates, and an RNP 0.3 low-altitude helicopter IFR route network covering the entire state.
LifeFlight also made a safety investment in twin-engine IFR helicopters. Today, it operates three Leonardo A109SPs and two A109Es, transporting an average of 2,500 patients a year in the helicopters. To date, it has safely cared for and transported more than 40,000 patients.
Maintenance Award
Sponsored by Rolls-Royce
For significant and distinct contributions to helicopter maintenance
George Quackenbush
Helicopter Aviation Maintenance and Safety Advisor, Santiago, Chile
Central California native George Quackenbush began learning aviation maintenance when a stint after high school fixing cars didn’t present enough of a challenge.
At an early age, Quackenbush learned from his father how to repair automobiles and later helped his brother build a hot rod. When he was 15, he purchased a Model A Ford and a separate engine, putting them together and trading the car to his brother for a motorcycle.
By the time Quackenbush reached high school, his maintenance skills were so advanced that he was chosen best in his school’s auto maintenance troubleshooting program and went on to compete in regional, state, and national troubleshooting competitions.
“I tried repairing cars after high school, but I got bored and wanted something more challenging, precise, and interesting,” he says. “I decided to repair aircraft.”
Unfortunately, Quackenbush ran out of funds after only one year in the aviation maintenance training program at California’s Reedley College. It was 1967 and the draft for Vietnam was in full force. He was recruited by the US Army and signed up for its helicopter component repair program. After graduating at the top of his class, he shipped off to Vietnam as a helicopter mechanic.
During his military tours, Quackenbush was quickly promoted, becoming a sergeant in 17 months and the lead mechanic in the hangar. But again, he wanted more of a challenge. He asked to join the prestigious Viking Armed Helicopter Platoon of the 121st Assault Helicopter Co.
After a rigorous initiation period, Quackenbush earned his place and over the next nine months adopted the platoon’s high levels of ethics, loyalty, and commitment. The constant state of danger trained him to remain alert, trust but verify, observe details most people miss, and fight the complacency that could be fatal to the entire crew.
When Quackenbush left the army, he returned to a country in political and cultural turmoil. He kept to himself as he completed his A&P training. He then landed a mechanic job in Peru supporting offshore oil exploration. Over the following years, he lived in and worked across Latin America and for two years in Iran with Bell as an inspector and instructor.
In addition to being an exceptionally skilled mechanic, Quackenbush put his Viking-learned skills and Bell training to work mentoring and supporting others in the industry. As VP of Latin America for Air Services International, he helped the company grow through his technical skills and thoughtful customer service.
Quackenbush’s appreciation for aviation safety intensified after he took a course in helicopter accident prevention at the University of Southern California. “That course absolutely focused me,” he recalls. “I used it to greatly increase our safety record with the Mexican police and others.”
He later attended Gordon Dupont’s course on the maintenance Dirty Dozen, which he credits for further fostering a focus on safety in his work as a mechanic and instructor.
Quackenbush is humble about his accomplishments, crediting his life’s work to doing what’s right, doing more than is expected, sharing knowledge, assisting where needed, and finding friends and mentors who share his strong values: pride, honor, loyalty, sacrifice, commitment, and an appreciation for life.
Pilot of the Year Award
Sponsored by POWER UP magazine
For outstanding achievement as a helicopter pilot
Mike Roederer, Chief Pilot, Air2, Pembroke, Hew Hampshire, USA
Mike Roederer was known in the industry as a man of integrity and extraordinary character. From the time he started flying helicopters in 1983 to his final position as chief pilot of Air2 before retiring in 2022, Roederer, who died last year, focused on safety, quality, and team support.
Winco pilot and VAI Board of Directors member David McColl describes Roederer as a caring person who looked out for everyone, whether they were under his charge or not. He mentored McColl as he did so many other pilots, instructing and mentoring him in longline operations and emphasizing what he called “the golden rule of piloting”: the pilot in command is the final authority on the conduct of a flight. Roederer told his pilots they should call him whenever they felt they were being pressured to fly in unsafe conditions, and he’d back them up
Roederer’s widow, Diana Roederer, watched her husband step in again and again, ensuring that safety always came first and that anyone on a job could ground a flight for safety reasons.
“It wasn’t just his pilots who needed him from time to time,” she recalls. “Sometimes a lineman would have a concern and their superiors didn’t agree. The lineman would tell the pilot, who would call Mike, and Mike would shut down the operation until the safety concern was resolved. He saw everyone on a job as part of his team and their safety as his responsibility. That was the kind of person he was.”
Roederer learned to fly airplanes in 1979, switching to helicopters in 1983. He taught in Southern California before he landed a Bell 206 heli-logging support-pilot position in Ketchikan, Alaska. From there, he joined the team at Columbia Helicopters, flying the 107 Vertol and building considerable experience in heli-logging, firefighting, and search-and-rescue operations around the country.
In 1999, he returned to California to be near his then-young grandchildren, working for a small helicopter operation performing firefighting, animal surveys and captures, and construction. He moved on to Helimax in 2001 to fly similar US Forest Service contract and longline work.
Roederer landed at Air2 in 2005. There, he flew power-line construction, maintenance inspections, power-line patrol, firefighting operations, and hurricane response efforts for 17 years. It was there he met and mentored McColl and so many others, earning their respect through his desire to put his team first.
“Mike was really humble,” his wife says. “For instance, he didn’t like that he was in a hotel when his crews were out in tents. He went and got himself a tent and gear and stayed out with his crew.” She explains this practice once saved the lives of his crew.
In 2003, while fighting a fire in California, Roederer experienced a hydraulic failure and landed in a field. He chose to stay with the helicopter overnight, awakening to thick smoke. He woke his team and got them and the fuel truck off the hill before the fire consumed the area.
After having been diagnosed with congestive heart failure the previous year, Roederer passed away surrounded by his family on Jul. 9, 2024.
Harold Summers Legacy Award
Sponsored by Vertical Aviation International
For outstanding contribution and selfless service to the worldwide vertical aviation industry
Allan Overbey
Project Manager, GEMS Inc.
Washington, D.C., USA
When Allan Overbey retired after more than 26 years in the US Air Force, he was recruited by FAA contractor Global Engineering & Management Services (GEMS) for his surveillance systems–acquisition experience. The FAA was investigating technologies, including ADS-B, that could provide air traffic control (ATC) and others with more information about aircraft movement, and the agency tasked GEMS to help.
After many years of research and development, the FAA decided in 2006 to deploy an ADS-B program, and Overbey was asked to oversee its initial implementation in helicopter operations in the Gulf of Mexico to prove the program’s value. His mission: achieve initial operational capability by December 2009 as a first step in potential nationwide deployment.
To meet that goal, Overbey needed to convince helicopter operators to install ASD-B equipment in their aircraft and pay transportation costs to FAA personnel and contractors. He likewise needed to persuade oil-and-gas companies to install and support FAA-provided weather systems, VHF communications, and ADS-B ground stations on their platforms, again at their own cost.
With no contacts in the helicopter or oil-and-gas industries, Overbey attended meetings of the Helicopter Safety Advisory Conference, an organization coordinating safety efforts among operators and Gulf energy producers, where he met Ann Carroll and Harold Summers, the VP of government affairs and director of flight operations, respectively, at VAI, then known as HAI (Helicopter Association International).
“What hit me hardest at that meeting was learning the FAA did not have a very good track record of delivering services to local helicopter operators and the oil-and-gas industry,” Overbey recalls. “There was a trust issue. I made it my mission to change that.”
What also solidified Overbey’s resolve was his first helicopter flight in the Gulf. The pilot was forced to scud-run between clouds in marginal VFR conditions with no ATC radio communication and no onboard traffic warning system.
“I learned hundreds of these flights happened like this every month, and it made me really nervous,” he remembers. “We had to get an ATC system in the Gulf.”
Overbey spent the next three months earning trust, building relationships, and selling the idea of investing in ADS-B to helicopter operators and oil-and-gas companies. Summers and Carroll, both now deceased, introduced Overbey to company leaders in the two industries. Summers also taught him helicopter vernacular, operations, and history, mentoring him along the way.
Considerable additional support came from PHI Americas Director of Operations and 2025 VAI Lifetime Achievement Award winner Pat Attaway, who ensured PHI’s involvement in the program and encouraged others’ participation as well.
Thanks to Summers, Attaway, and other industry members, Overbey met his December 2009 deadline. As a result, Gulf operators were able to substantially close the separation between aircraft from 100 nm to 5, thereby increasing the number of flights while improving the level of safety. In 2009, the Houston Air Route Traffic Control Center managed 9,742 IFR helicopter operations in the Gulf of Mexico. In 2024, that number was just shy of 32,000. The success of the Gulf pilot program laid the foundation for the implementation of ADS-B throughout the US National Airspace System by 2020.
“I thought I had a great career in the Air Force, but this experience was one of the greatest satisfactions of my working career,” Overbey says.
Lifetime Achievement Award
Sponsored by Bell
For long and significant service to the international vertical aviation community
Pat Attaway, Director of Operations, PHI Americas, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA
Pat Attaway joined PHI in 1990 and advanced from line pilot to senior manager and director over the next three decades. His responsibilities included overseeing 14 bases and 350 pilots along with operations and standards in several countries, including Australia, Cyprus, Ghana, Israel, New Zealand, and Trinidad and Tobago. He also oversaw PHI’s air medical operations. As a contract manager, he fielded the first use of the Sikorsky S-92.
Today, as PHI Americas’ director of operations, Attaway is responsible for operational control and budgetary, personnel, and management oversight for oil-and-gas operations in the Gulf of America (also known as Gulf of Mexico). His colleagues credit him with being a stabilizing influence during a period of realignment in the entire offshore industry.
Thanks to Attaway’s leadership and contributions in two groups dedicated to improving safety in offshore operations—he is a former chairman of the Helicopter Safety Advisory Conference and of the Operational Effectiveness Workstream within HeliOffshore—the industry has moved toward safer practices and standards, including the adoption of ADS-B technology.
“When I look back on my career in aviation, I’ve been blessed to be associated with so many excellent professionals, some I’ve been able to influence in a positive way, others who’ve had a positive influence on me,” Attaway says.
His interest in helicopters was sparked in college while he worked summers on offshore energy platforms for Louisiana’s oil-and-gas industry. The job gave him the resources to pursue a personal interest in skydiving and the professional opportunity to ride in Bell 47s and JetRangers.
Later, when he shared this information with Navy recruiters, they asked him if he wanted to be a pilot. “I said yes, and that was the start of my career in aviation,” Attaway recalls.
He spent nearly eight years in the US Navy as a ship-based helicopter pilot and instructor in the Kaman SH-2F Seasprite, an aircraft used for anti-submarine and anti-ship operations.
Attaway credits his time in the navy with instilling in him the professionalism, work ethic, and practical knowledge critical for safe offshore operations. This includes a deep appreciation for two-pilot crews.
“While I have a significant amount of time flying single pilot, my most satisfying flights were always flying as part of a crew. I’ve always enjoyed teamwork in the aircraft,” Attaway says. “Any flight when things were challenging and we performed well gave me a great sense of accomplishment.”
Lifetime Achievement Award
Sponsored by Bell
For long and significant service to the international vertical aviation community
René Closter, Founder and Chairman, Luxembourg Air Rescue, Findel, Luxembourg
As a paramedic early in his career in Luxembourg, René Closter realized the acute need for faster patient transport when a 6-year-old boy’s foot was detached in a traffic accident. The appendage was packed in ice for retransplantation in France, but with no air ambulance available, the trip took four hours by ground—too long for the foot to be saved. The episode motivated Closter, who began his public-service career with the City of Luxembourg’s fire brigade in 1973, to make a difference.
After government officials turned down his idea for a local air ambulance service, Closter remortgaged his house for the initial collateral to form Luxembourg Air Rescue (LAR) in 1988 with one rented helicopter. In 1995, he became the organization’s CEO, serving in that position until May 2021.
Under Closter’s leadership, LAR grew to a 24/7/365 organization with a fleet of two ground ambulances, seven helicopters, and five jets. Today, LAR is supported by more than 185,000 individual subscribers as well as private donations. Over the past 37 years, the organization has flown more than 70,000 missions, saving countless lives in the process.
LAR’s work isn’t confined to Luxembourg. In 2007, the organization won a contract for the exclusive transport of human organs in France. It has also flown medical supplies into Kosovo and participated in postdisaster rescue efforts in Pakistan and Iran. LAR’s work during the recent COVID crisis earned it the 2020 Adenauer-de Gaulle Prize for its exceptional contribution to Franco-German cooperation.
At age 45, Closter received his helicopter license and joined LAR’s pilot roster. During his career, Closter personally participated in more than 14,000 rescues in Luxembourg as well as numerous humanitarian missions worldwide.
In addition to his duties at LAR, Closter has served as VP of helicopter air ambulance service DRF Luftrettung and as a technical advisor for the national rescue services of the Luxembourg government. After his time as a firefighter earlier in his career, he worked in the international financial services industry, attaining senior management positions in Hong Kong, London, New York, and Dubai.
In recognition of his public service, Closter was appointed Knight of the Crown of the Order of Adolphe of Nassau, Officer in the Order of Civil and Military Merit of Adolphe of Nassau, and Officer in the Order of the Crown of Belgium.
Closter’s colleagues credit his unwavering belief in the power of aviation to save lives with revolutionizing emergency medical services in Luxembourg and beyond.
During LAR’s 30th anniversary celebration in a packed hangar in May 2018, Closter told his staff and supporters, “The foundation of today’s success took—and still takes—determination, passion, endurance, expertise, and hard work. Our people make the difference. If you can dream it, you can do it.”
Lifetime Achievement Award
Sponsored by Bell
For long and significant service to the international vertical aviation community
Thierry Couderc, VP, European Helicopter Association, Paris, France
Thierry Couderc’s illustrious career spans more than three decades, highlighted by outstanding contributions to both military and civil aviation and to the vertical aviation industry across Europe.
Couderc’s career began in the French Navy, where he spent a significant portion of his 25 years of service in aviation. There, he conducted flight tests for new equipment and tactics on combat helicopters, enhancing operational safety and effectiveness.
In his dual capacities as VP of the European Helicopter Association (EHA) and, since 2007, executive director of the French helicopter association Union Française de l’Hélicoptère (UFH), Couderc has been instrumental in bridging the needs of the French rotorcraft community with those of the broader European landscape. He has steered the UFH through regulatory changes as well as operational challenges, ensuring its adaptation to European Union Aviation Safety Agency standards. His leadership has helped the French helicopter community remain competitive while meeting regulatory and environmental challenges.
At the EHA, Couderc plays a crucial role in shaping the European rotorcraft sector. His work with the Council of European Aerospace Societies Rotorcraft Committee and the European Safety Promotion Network Rotorcraft has harmonized safety regulations across Europe, helping to foster compliance while safeguarding the industry’s ability to innovate and grow sustainably.
Couderc is widely admired for his ability to balance regulatory requirements with operational realities while strengthening the voice of the rotorcraft community in key forums. He recently led efforts to stop French government attempts to impose confiscatory taxes for on-demand charter flights, increase heliport fees, and restrict flight activity. He also warned policymakers not to expect privately owned helicopters to be available for public emergencies if they aren’t regularly “allowed to operate commercially under realistic economic conditions.”
Couderc’s advocacy extends beyond regulations to include support for inclusivity in aviation, exemplified by his dedication to disabled pilots, particularly his work with deaf pilots at the Aero-Club des Sourds de France. He is also active in the Fédération Française d’ULM, a group for the French ultralight aircraft community.
With over 5,200 flight hours, including 720 flight test hours, to his credit, Couderc’s accomplishments demonstrate his technical expertise and unyielding commitment to aviation excellence.
Lifetime Achievement Award
Sponsored by Bell
For long and significant service to the international vertical aviation community
B. S. Singh Deo, VP, Rotary Wing Society of India, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
Retired Indian Air Force Wing Commander B. S. Singh Deo has dedicated more than 55 years of service to the vertical flight community, after a childhood interest in aircraft modeling sparked his love of aviation.
Singh Deo excelled early on in his pursuit of an aviation career. Upon graduating from India’s National Defence Academy in 1968, he received the Chief of the Air Staff Medal for being first in his class as well as the Best Pilot Trophy, qualifying him to fly VIP government personnel, including heads of state and the prime minister.
At the Indian Air Force Flying Instructors School in 1975, Singh Deo was awarded the nation’s Best Flying Instructor Trophy. Two years later, he qualified as a test pilot, winning the Best Test Pilot and Chief of Air Staff Trophies. Building on this experience, he was appointed to the Aircrew Examining Board, which tests military pilots across India.
After retiring from the air force, Singh Deo worked for Malaysian Helicopter Services, where he was a technical pilot from 1992 to 1995. In January 1997, he joined Bell Helicopter as managing director for South Asia. During his 21-year career with the company, he received the Bell CEO Global Award and twice won Bell’s Best Executive Award for the Asia-Pacific region. Singh Deo also helped establish a licensed production facility in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, for the manufacture of advanced composite fuselage sections of the Bell 407.
Singh Deo, recipient of the Vayu Sena Medal from India’s president for meritorious service in military and civil aviation, is a member of the Aeronautical Society of India, where he has served as VP and on the Governing Council. As VP of the Rotary Wing Society of India, which functions as the country’s regional vertical aviation safety team, Singh Deo conducts helicopter safety classes and seminars. He has also given seminars on aviation safety for the UN World Food Programme in Nepal and guest lectures at various schools to encourage students to pursue aviation careers.
An experienced pilot with flight time in five types of fixed-wing aircraft and 14 different helicopters, Singh Deo frequently shares his aviation experience with young aviators. One of his favorite stories occurred early in his career as a VIP helicopter pilot, flying an Mi-8 with the Indian Air Force in 1974.
His crew had just delivered a high-ranking passenger and lifted off for the nighttime ferry flight back to base in “black hole” conditions, flying on instruments without the ability to reference the ground and maintaining only sporadic radio contact with air traffic control.
Singh’s first instinct was to continue the flight rather than admit that he and his crew were lost and likely off course. Then he remembered a flight safety poster that said, “Swallow Your Pride, Save Your Hide.” He called air traffic control, confessed the situation, and received a direction finder steer to get back on course.
“It was a-near-90-degrees turn to the left and nearly 30 minutes flying before we landed safely with near-empty fuel tanks,” he recalls. Singh Deo says the experience taught him that “flight safety messages are pearls of wisdom gained from many pilots’ experiences that could save your life.”
