A lifelong aviation enthusiast who joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in 2007, Curt came to&nbsp;the publication&nbsp;from the broadcast industry where he was a national science and technology television reporter and producer. He writes on the FBO field, aviation finance, and sustainable aviation and occasionally contributes to&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;sister publication&nbsp;Business Jet Traveler. Curt was a member of the AINtv reporting staff that won the 2008 Aerospace Journalist of the Year award for Best Airshow Daily. That same year, he was a finalist for another AJOYA award. He earned an AJOYA for Best Business Aviation Submission in 2018 and was a finalist in that category in 2021. He received the National Air Transportation Association’s&nbsp; Aviation Journalist Award in 2012 and won a Pegasus Sapphire Business Aviation Award for outstanding journalism in 2021.
Before joining AIN, Curt worked with&nbsp;Consumer Reports’ television division, CRTV, and for several local television news staffs. An honors graduate of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, he earned a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Boston University in 1995. Curt lives in New York State with his wife and two young sons.

Senior Editor

Curt Epstein

Eurocopter AS 350B2, Cave Creek, Ariz., Feb. 22, 2009–The probable cause of the damaging landing of the AS 350, registered to and operated by PHI, was the pilot’s misjudged landing flare, according to the NTSB. Contributing factors were a dust-cloud brownout created by the medevac helicopter’s rotor downwash and glare from parked emergency vehicle headlights that interfered with the pilot’s night vision goggles; both phenomena affected the pilot’s perception of proximity to the ground. The helicopter sustained structural damage to its tail boom and fuselage after a hard landing during a night-time mission to transport a traffic-accident patient. After being directed to a landing area in a dirt parking lot, the pilot asked first responders if the area had been wetted down. It hadn’t, he was told, but “looked damp.” As the pilot descended, his vision became obscured by the dust cloud. He then reduced power in an attempt to land quickly and minimize the dust volume. The commercial pilot and two medical crewmembers on board were not injured in the landing.

News about significant aircraft accidents and information from accident reports.

Accidents final reports: Dust and glare caused pilot misjudgment

Eurocopter AS 350B2, Cave Creek, Ariz., Feb.

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

AmyWilder

News about bills, laws, regulations and other governmental decisions affecting aviation and aerospace. Topics include FAA re-authorizations, taxes on fuel and aviation activities, environmental legislation, ICAO decisions, governmental mediation of labor conflicts and World Trade Organization disputes and decisions.

News and information on safety procedures and concerns.

News and issues relating to the aerospace industry that are related to the science, engineering and business of flight in space involving civil, industrial and military applications, and similar topics related to flight in the atmosphere of the Earth that are not covered more directly by other AINonline subject channels. In other words, both astronautical and aeronautical subjects, except for those aeronautical topics that are specifically covered elsewhere on this website.

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David Jack Kenny

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

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News and issues regarding all manner of civil and military rotorcraft and their powerplants, including helicopters, tilt rotors and unmanned air vehicles.

News and issues concerning general aviation, specifically airplanes and helicopters powered by piston and alternative engines (i.e., non-turbine powered aircraft). Subjects include aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

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