Josh Grier and Tony Tsantles joined Aviation Specialties Unlimited’s team as director of training and night-vision goggle instructor, respectively. Grier served in the U.S. Air Force and Army National Guard as a combat aviator. Tsantles is retired from the U.S. Army where he served as an aeromedical evacuation pilot and indstructor flying UH-60 Black Hawks.
The European Helicopter Association has elected Capt. Peter Moeller from Luxembourg Air Rescue as its new chairman. He replaces Jaime Arque, who retired. Moeller began his career in German Army Aviation in 1975. He has been involved in the fields of aerial work operations, commercial air transport and EMS operations in Europe and West Africa.
Steve Wile joins Jupiter Avionics Corporation as the company’s customer support specialist. He previously held similar positions at Northern Airborne Technology and Cobham.
Helicopter Association International has tapped Chris Hill as director of safety. Hill has 32 years of experience in rotary-wing and operational aviation safety. He served as a helicoper pilot in th U.S. Army and U.S. Coast Guard and has experience flying in the commercial offshore industry in the Gulf of Mexico.
FlightSafety International has appointed David Davenport and Ray Johns as Co-CEOs. Davenport will also serve as president of commercial and Johns as president of government and manufacturing. Davenport joined FlightSafety in 1996 and most recently served as EVP of commercial. He graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy. Johns served in the Air Force for 35 years and joined FlightSafety in 2014.
Mike Adamson is the Aircraft Electronics Association’s new president and CEO, effective March 2019. He succeeds Paula Derks, who is retiring. Adamson has served as AEA’s VP of member programs and education since 2007. He first joined the association in 1999 as director of training and education. He served in the U.S. Navy as an aircraft maintenance office administrator.
Leonardo test pilot Dan Wells has been named a fellow by The Society of Experimental Test Pilots, a recognition only 10 percent of the organization’s members hold. Wells started his career in the U.S. Army in 1982, flying AH-1 Cobras and OV-1D Mohawks. Wells worked for Boeing flying the MH-47G Chinook and X-48 research aircraft. He joined Leonardo’s AW609 program in 2011.
Coptersafety has appointed Juha Ahtola as head of quality and safety and Mikko Kallio as head of training and development. Ahtola was an instructor at Finnair Group. He also consulted FinnHEMS for helicopter EMS services in Finland. Kallio graduated from the Finnish Air Force Academy in 1991 and served as rotary-wing pilot and flight instructor in the Finnish Border Guard.
Bye Aerospace has appointed Paul McAuliffe as CFO. McAuliffe was previously a principal at Morgan Stanley, managing director at CS First Boston, managing director at Smith Barney and EVP and CFO at Apartment Investment and Management Company.
Cmdr. Scott Simpson has taken over command of the U.S. Helicopter Maritime Strike Weapons School Atlantic from Cmdr. Andrew Miroff.
Michele Evans has been named Lockheed Martin’s EVP of aeronautics. Evans most recently served as deputy EVP for the business unit. Previously, she was VP and general manager for Lockheed’s integrated warfare systems and sensors.
David Hansell joined DJI as public policy manager to guide the development of drone laws and regulations to ensure they allow the U.S. to take full advantage of drone benefits. Previously, Hansell was the global aviation policy lead for Facebook and served as a member of the FAA Drone Advisory Committee Subcommittee, the FAA UAS Safety Team and the Royal Aeronautical Society. RWI
