Flight Safety Foundation
Aviation Week & Space Technology
Distinguished Service Award

is presented to

John E. O’Brien
Air Line Pilots Association, International

For his work, spanning 35 years, representing pilots and the public on behalf of international aviation safety.

At Cape Kennedy, Florida, Mr. O’Brien worked as a safety analyst in quality control for the U.S. space shuttle program. He was hired by the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) as a staff engineer in 1972, was promoted to the position of manager–engineering and air safety in 1978 and assumed his present position of director of engineering and air safety in 1982.

As director, Mr. O’Brien has managed and coordinated all safety, security and human-performance issues for ALPA. Representing ALPA in U.S. and international aviation advisory committees and study groups, as well as representing the international pilot community on a number of those groups, he has established himself as an industry leader and consensus builder.

For Flight Safety Foundation, Mr. O’Brien has been a key member of the Board of Governors, the Executive Committee and the International Advisory Committee (IAC). As a member of the IAC, he was instrumental in identifying controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) and approach-and-landing accidents (ALAs) as essential safety issues. He helped to form the FSF working groups that addressed these problems and produced the CFIT Education and Training Aid and the FSF ALAR Tool Kit. He also assisted the Foundation in its initiative to lead the U.S. aviation industry in developing flight operational quality assurance (FOQA) programs.

Flight Safety Foundation and the award’s sponsor, Aviation Week & Space Technology, are pleased to recognize John E. O’Brien for his contributions to aviation safety.

FSF 57th annual International Air Safety Seminar
Shanghai, China
November 16, 2004

Stuart Matthews
President and CEO
Flight Safety Foundation

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