Harold “Hal” Summers, who served as director of flight operations for Helicopter Association International and had an aviation industry career spanning six decades, died October 20. He was 83.
“Hal was an icon in the industry, a subject-matter expert on everything involving helicopter maintenance, and he felt it was an honor and obligation to share his wisdom and experience with the rest of us,” said HAI president and CEO James Viola. “We are a better industry because of his passionate contributions, and he will be profoundly missed.”
Born on Feb. 23, 1938, in Newport, Oregon, Summers achieved his A&P license and began his career working in Alaska in the early 1960s. In 1964, he joined Petroleum Helicopters Inc. (PHI), eventually becoming vice president with responsibility for maintenance and support for a global fleet of more than 400 helicopters in the Gulf of Mexico alone.
Summers also had served as acting chief engineer for a joint venture that PHI had formed with China Southern Helicopter in Zhuhai, Guangdong, China.
He joined HAI in 2004 and steered the fly-in and fly-out each year for Heli-Expo, coordinating with local airports on staging and fueling sites. In addition, he worked with other HAI staff, regulators, and industry stakeholders on a number of issues confronting the association’s members.
This included serving as the staff liaison to the HAI technical and maintenance working group and the utilities, patrol, and construction working group and representing the rotorcraft industry on a number of FAA advisory working groups covering issues such as bird strikes, rotorcraft occupant protection, and health and usage monitoring. He further was part of the FAA International Vertical Aviation Safety Conference Planning Team, NASA’s Rotorcraft Issue Analysis Team, Rotorcraft Maintenance Programs Industry Group, and RTCA's Helicopter Terrain Awareness and Warning Systems Committee, among others.
“Harold’s career was massive in breadth,” said Viola. “He received the FAA’s Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award, which recognizes 50 years of working in aircraft maintenance. I expect many people receive that award at the end of a long and illustrious career. Not Harold. He received his plaque and pin in 2011 and continued to serve for 10 more years.”
Noting Summers sent his final email on behalf of HAI just hours before his passing, Viola said, “He will be greatly missed as a colleague and friend by many.”
