NBAA has announced the keynote speakers for its annual Maintenance Conference, which will take place April 29 through May 1 in Columbus, Ohio.
Gregory Feith, a former senior air safety investigator with the NTSB, will address the conference’s opening day. A “go-team” captain with the agency, he investigated more than 2,500 accidents during his 36-year career, spending more than two decades with the NTSB. He served as the investigator-in-charge or the U.S.-accredited representative for many high-profile aircraft accidents. A member of the Professional Aviation Maintenance Association’s board of directors, he brought a thorough understanding of the relationship between maintenance and safety to his work.
Retired U.S. Navy commander Manny Sanchez will address the audience during the Day 2 opening session. During three decades of service, he held multiple maintenance leadership roles across the Navy’s operational and test squadrons, carrier air wings, and fleet readiness centers, including a two-year stint as maintenance officer for the Blue Angels flight demonstration team.
He was recognized as the Helicopter Maritime Strike Wing Pacific senior maintenance officer in 2018, and his final assignment was as commanding officer of the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit, in charge of the training of the sea service’s aviation maintenance technicians. Since his retirement in 2023, Sanchez has served as a senior logistics analyst with a company that helps integrate new technologies into the military.