The Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award

The Award was established in memory of Laura Taber Barbour to recognize outstanding achievement in the field of aviation safety — military or civil — in method, design, invention, study or other improvement.

The Award, administered by Flight Safety Foundation,
is presented in 1999 to

Merritt M. Birky, Ph.D.
National Transportation Safety Board

For advancement of the science of fire, explosions and the toxic effects of fire in aviation accidents and aerospace accidents; the development of related safety recommendations; and the training of accident investigators.

For more than 38 years, Dr. Birky has played a pivotal role in studies and investigations related to fire safety for the U.S. National Bureau of Standards (now the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology) and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board.

He has earned appreciation for his groundbreaking work during the investigation of some of the most widely known aviation accidents and aerospace accidents — including Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986, U.S. Air Force Titan 34D in 1986, Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988, ValuJet Flight 592 in 1996 and TWA Flight 800 in 1996 — in addition to diverse and extensive efforts encompassing dozens of other accidents.

Whether personally supervising on-scene investigators, meticulously evaluating pieces of wreckage for evidence, or coordinating pioneering international research into the explosive properties of Jet-A fuel, Dr. Birky has been instrumental in identifying the causes of fire and explosions, determining the probable causes of accidents, preventing accidents, and devising ways to ameliorate the consequences of fire and explosions in transportation.

FSF 52nd International Air Safety Seminar
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
November 10, 1999

Stuart Matthews
Chairman, President and CEO
Flight Safety Foundation

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