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.
Regulations changing FAR Parts 25 and 121 by adding new standards for more secure cockpit doors cleared FAA in the second week of January, just four months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks involving four hijacked jetliners demonstrated a need for the rule. The standards, which must be complied with by April 9, 2003, require that 6,630 airplanes flown on Part 121 certificates receive ``hardened'' cockpit doors.
NTSB has recommended adding access panels to aircraft cabins as part of a set of recommendations aimed at improving onboard firefighting techniques. The board asked FAA to develop ``procedures or airplane modifications'' that will help crews gain access behind panels to expose fires on in-service planes. New designs should include more panels, ports, or other means to accomplish the same thing, the board said.
FAA on Jan. 2 mandated the next steps in an ongoing program to limit the risk of Pratt&Whitney PW4000 engine surges, issuing revised operating limits on certain engines with high-pressure compressor (HPC) ``cutback stator'' configurations and authorized a new test that, when passed, clears engines that have surpassed the limits for return to service.
