Former RAF base commander, jet pilot, and CAA Principal Aviation Examiner David Harrison has been appointed Deputy Chief Executive Aviation Safety.
David Harrison, Deputy Chief Executive Aviation Safety
During his six years with the CAA, he’s also held the roles of Training Standards Officer, Manager of Licensing and Standards, and most recently, Manager of Certification.
David, originally from Britain, flew and instructed for the Royal Air Force. He has 3000 hours fast-jet time, principally on the Phantom and Tornado F3, and was both a weapons instructor and flying instructor. He was also commander of the RAF’s busiest flying training base at Linton-on-Ouse.
In New Zealand, he became a CFI and examiner with Hamilton’s CTC Aviation followed by a stint with Aviation Services Limited (now Aspeq). He now has around 7000 hours, and is a current A-Cat flight Instructor and GA examiner. He’s also gone solo in a helicopter and has achieved ‘silver’ height and duration qualifications in a glider.
David is passionate about the need for everybody concerned with aviation at whatever level – commercial, professional, recreational or private – to play a role in ensuring that activities directly and indirectly associated with flying are conducted to the highest safety standards.
“Whether you’re a pilot, an engineer in the hangar, taking your family for a flight, or looking after passengers, you all have a safety role to play.”
In his new role, David will oversee the CAA’s regulatory interface with the aviation sector in all its forms.
“We’re a regulator, but that doesn’t mean we cannot engage with the sector and co-operate to develop an intelligence-led, risk-based oversight system, that ensures high standards of safety but is flexible and capable of employing discretion.”
