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

Bell 206-L4, Sabine Pass, Texas, Dec. 11, 2008–The LongRanger crashed into the Gulf of Mexico, killing the pilot and four passengers, as a result of the commercial pilot’s failure to maintain clearance from the water, according to the NTSB. A contributing factor was the Part 135 flight’s inadvertent encounter with IMC conditions. 
The helicopter, owned and operated by Rotorcraft Leasing, was en route to an offshore oil platform when the pilot failed to make a routine position report. The helicopter’s wreckage was located two miles offshore in 15 feet of water. A cold front had passed through the area several hours before the accident, and according to the operator, other flights in the area had been grounded or delayed by the passing weather. At the time of the accident, the operator did not have a formal risk-assessment program, with the pilot responsible for checking the weather conditions and making the decision whether or not to fly. There was no evidence that the pilot had obtained a formal weather briefing from a recorded source. 
The air temperature at the time of the accident was 34 degrees F and the water temperature was 64 degrees F. Airmets for IMC, turbulence and icing were issued for the accident area, with visibility restricted due to mist and possible light snow. An examination of the wreckage revealed no anomalies, while the damage was consistent with controlled flight into water.

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