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.
British and French aviation authorities yesterday spelled out what British Airways and Air France must do to get their Concordes flying again, issuing airworthiness directives that spell out safety-enhancing modifications needed to get the supersonic jets back in service. "Once the changes are completed on each individual aircraft the regulatory authorities can return its certificate of airworthiness (COA). Commercial operations can then resume at the discretion of the airlines," the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said.
FAA has put tighter operating limits on certain Pratt&Whitney PW4000s with high-pressure compressor (HPC) ``cutback stator'' configurations because the engines continue to suffer power losses at critical times because of high-pressure compressor surges. The immediate-adoptive airworthiness directive (AD), effective Aug. 10, ordered PW4000 operators to limit the number of engines with certain criteria on a single aircraft.
U.S. regulators started talking about overhauling Federal Aviation Regulation Part 145 in the early 1970s. In 1989, the industry got its first look at a proposed new rule. Last month, FAA published its Part 145 re-write effort as a final rule -- but the job still isn't done, and much of the repair station world isn't pleased.
