Four members of the Civil Aviation Authority’s safety education and certification teams won this year’s Royal Aeronautical Society’s special recognition award at the 38th annual symposium.
Pen Mackay and Brendan McKeown were recognised for their commitment and contributions to aviation safety education. Ms. Mackay has been the senior writer for Vector magazine for more than ten years – the last four, also as Editor. Mr. McKeown has worked in safety education for almost seven years, managing the Good Aviation Practice (GAP) booklets – two valued educational resources promoting best practice advice that’s easily understood.
Peter E C Johnson, the Chair of the Board of Directors at New Zealand Aeronautical Trusts, praised the work they’ve done over the years.
“The ability of Vector and the GAP booklets to promote aviation safety to a broad audience is a testament to your commitment. Vector is an indispensable tool in the aviation community,” said Mr. Johnson.
“The notion that a single piece of advice or a safety tip could potentially prevent an accident speaks volumes about the significance of your work.”
Over 150,000 print publications and products were distributed in the last financial year. With each of those products, Ms. Mackay and Mr. McKeown, alongside the current and past members of the safety education team, have consistently produced materials that are well-received by the aviation community.
The second CAA-related award at the symposium went to former CAA Certification Engineers, Kavita Vanmari and Glen Somerville, for their work on certifying the 750XL-II (SuperPac) and the Agricultural variant (SuperFalco). These were highly complex projects supported by NZAero and led by the Product Certification Team under the leadership of Ms. Vanmari and Mr. Somerville.
Dean Winter, CAA’s Deputy Chief Executive of Strategy, Governance, Risk and Assurance, is proud of their accomplishments, attributing the success to passion and dedication.
“It’s great to see their hard work be acknowledged at this level. New aircraft type certifications are rare and extremely complex. The success of these projects came down to great communication, attention to detail, and strong leadership.
On the safety education side, Vector and the GAP booklets are only as good as the people who create them. The achievements of Brendan and Pen reflect their talent, dedication and close teamwork. We’re very proud of them,” says Mr. Winter.
The safety education team is now working on the next issue of Vector and updating GAP booklets. Head over to our Education section to read an assortment of the now award-winning educational products.
