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.
The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) announcement that it is ``considering'' a rule that would require fuel-tank flammability reduction measures for the U.S. commercial aircraft fleet raises many questions.
Airbus' refusal to provide repair stations with manuals for certain components installed on its A320s is not a violation of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations, because repairing and overhauling components is not essential to keeping the planes flying, said the OEM. The essential instructions, Airbus said, are in the A320 aircraft maintenance manual (AMM), which details how to remove and replace the components in question.
FAA in late November signed off on proposed special conditions for an agency-developed fuel tank inerting system tailored to Boeing 747s that lay the groundwork for what some in the industry believe will lead to an agency mandate for similar systems on all airliners. The flammability reduction system (FRS) is designed to inert standard fuel tanks on all 747s by reducing oxygen levels in tanks' empty space.
