Sean Broderick covers aviation safety, MRO, and the hardware side of the airline business from Aviation Week Network's Washington, D.C. office.
Broderick's aviation career started in 1991, working for Airbus in Toulouse. His industry experience includes four years with an aviation consultancy, where he helped launch a U.S. Part 121 carrier; 12 years with the American Association of Airport Executives, where he served as editor of Airport Magazine; and 20 years in full- and part-time roles with Aviation Week writing primarily about safety and the aftermarket.
Broderick was named the 2020 Aerospace Journalist of the Year by the Aerospace Media Awards. He also shared in a 2020 Neal Award for Best News Coverage with Aviation Week Network colleagues. Broderick and Aviation Week colleague John Croft shared the 2015 Flight Safety International Cecil A. Brownlow Publication Award recognizing "significant contributions by journalists to aviation safety awareness."
He graduated from James Madison University with a B.S. in Communications ('91) and earned an M.S. in Integrated Marketing Communications ('13) from West Virginia University.
"It wasn't long ago when SMS was something you'd see an occasional reference to ... Now you can't go to a safety meeting or pick up a safety journal or talk about safety issues ... without having reference to SMS." -- John Lauber, Airbus chief product safety officer, Nov. 2, 2006 If you attend aviation safety-themed meetings or follow coverage of them in publications such as O&M, you probably can attest to the truth in the statement above. Airbus' John Lauber made it while moderating a panel at the FAA's Annual International Safety Forum.
The FAA and EASA recently issued important -- and much needed -- clarifications regarding human factors training requirements. The resulting clarity may surprise some, notably U.S. repair stations with EASA 145 certificates.
Safety investigators in Canada and the U.S. in late March called for immediate inspections of certain Airbus A300-600 and A310 rudders following service information from the manufacturer warning of damage caused by hydraulic fuel leaks. While Airbus in all-operators telexes (AOTs) said the checks -- both for hydraulic fluid and for the structure itself -- should be done within six months or 500 cycles, the safety boards of both countries urged regulators to tighten the compliance schedule significantly.
