The National Business Aviation Association presents Pilot Flying Safety Awards each year to member company pilots who have exemplary safety records. To be eligible for an award, a pilot must have flown corporate aircraft 1,500 hours without an accident, but the actual number of safe hours flown by many of the 2012 top pilots are above 20,000 hours.

T. William White, Chief Pilot, Keller Companies; Manchester, N.H.; 32,006 Hours

Bill White has been in the top five on NBAA’s Flying Safety Awards list since 1992 and reached the top in 1998. He told AIN that his own good safety record is due not only to himself but also to his fellow crewmembers. “We have a highly experienced crew with lots of time in the Mitsubishi MU-2, an average of 10,000 hours plus for each pilot,” he said. Keller operates two MU-2s, plus a Dassault Falcon 10. White also credits excellent training, equipment and maintenance for the sterling safety record.

White joined Keller in 1969. “I was the only pilot then,” he said, “and the airplane I flew was a Cessna 310 Riley Rocket.” Today, White flies with two full-time pilots and two part-time pilots. The company also recently hired a new chief of maintenance and employs two additional mechanics, including White’s son Michael.

Keller Companies is a group of eight family-owned companies manufacturing energy-efficient construction materials. Most of its flights are domestic.

White said he still loves to fly “Mitsubishi MU-2B-26 N40KC.” The twin-turboprop has 20,000 hours on the airframe. He has served on the NBAA MU-2 technical committee and was also a member of the State of New Hampshire Aviation Users Advisory Board.

For a full list of winners, see the NBAA Safe Flying Awards - Top 25 Pilots PDF.