Each year, NBAA recognizes the top aviation maintenance and avionics technicians with excellent safety records who work for member companies. Maintaining corporate aircraft or avionics for three accident-free years is the minimum requirement for an NBAA Safety Award but the actual number of years for many of the top technicians adds up to four decades or more.
We have covered the top three–W.L. Kobs of Tri C (47 years of safe operation), John Bahrenburg of Meridian Teterboro/Meridian Air Charter (45 years) and Alberto Martinez of Honeywell International (43 years)–in these pages before. AIN talked with other top A&Ps and avionics technicians for 2010 to learn about their backgrounds and their safety philosophies.
Timothy Detwiler, chief inspector
Johnson & Johnson
West Trenton, N.J.
41 Years
Timothy Detwiler has been with Johnson & Johnson for 13 years and has been chief inspector for the past 10 years. The Johnson & Johnson flight department is based at Trenton Mercer Airport in West Trenton, N.J., and currently operates a Gulfstream G550, a G450, a GIV and a Sikorsky S-76C+ with 18 pilots and 12 maintenance personnel. He told AIN that his favorite aircraft to work on is the Sikorsky.
Detwilerstarted out in aviation when he was in high school. He worked for a local helicopter operator, Carson Helicopters in Perkasie, Pa., part time during the school year and full time in the summer. His job included traveling throughout the country with the company’s utility/external-lift operations. “I believe that is what sparked my interest in aviation,” he said. After working for Carson, he worked for the Sikorsky Aircraft Division of United Technologies for 10 years, then for Warner Lambert’s flight department for 10 years, before joining Johnson & Johnson.
When asked to what he attributed his long safety record, he replied simply: “Attention to details.”
Thomas Anderlik, director of maintenance
CNH America
Waukegan, Ill.
40 Years
Thomas Anderlik has been director of maintenance with CNH America for 17 years, working on the Dassault Falcon 900EX, Cessna Citation X and Piaggio Avanti II. The flight department has four full-time pilots, four part-time pilots, two full-time mechanics and one part-time mechanic. There are also two dispatchers and one office billing person.
Before joining CNH, he worked seven years for FMC, which operated a Falcon 20, a Sabreliner 60 and a King Air 90. He spent 17 years at America National Can as director of maintenance, working on a Sabreliner 60 and 65 and a Challenger 600. He worked at Case Corp., which operated a Cessna Citation VII, when it merged with New Holland in 1999, creating CNH. Today CNH comprises three agricultural brands (Case IH, New Holland Ag and Steyr) and three construction equipment brands (Case Construction Equipment, New Holland Construction and Kobelco). In the U.S. Air Force Anderlik did line maintenance on T-33 and T-39 jets.
Anderlik told AIN that his favorite aircraft to work on is the Falcon. When asked to what he credited his long safety record, he replied: “Training. Training. Training. From FlightSafety and CAE SimuFlite.”
Robert LeMay, vice president, regional sales representative
Aerodynamics, Inc.
Waterford, Mich.
40 Years
Robert LeMay earned his A&P certificate while in the U.S. Air Force, working as a jet engine technician. When he completed his military service in 1970, he went to work for Aerodynamics, Inc. (ADI) and he’s been there ever since. LeMay told AIN that his favorite airplane to work on is the Beechcraft King Air B200, although he has moved into management with ADI, becoming vice president, regional sales representative four-and-a-half years ago after serving as vice president/general manager since 1992.
ADI is a full-service FBO, based at Oakland County International Airport, with Part 121, 135, 125 and 91 operations and a Part 145 repair station. ADI was a Hawker Beechcraft service center from 1963 until last year, and the repair station works on all Beechcraft products plus all the 550 series Cessna Citations, all models of the CitationJet plus the Gulfstream II, III and IV and Learjet 35, 45 and 60.
LeMayattributes his safety record to “excellent management. Our number-one goal is always safety first. We take pride in delivering a 100-percent squawk-free airplane. To achieve that obviously takes good training. The biggest factor is the [founder], Frank Macartney, who started the company in 1959. His love for ADI and his mentoring of all employees is outstanding and he’s made it a first-class operation.”