Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Editor, AIN monthly magazine

Kerry Lynch

On April 19, 2019, the University of Maryland UAS Test Site Team marked a first: delivery of an organ for a transplant by drone with specially designed monitoring equipment.&nbsp;In honor of the achievement, the Helicopter Association International recognized the team, led by director Matt Scassero, and the University of Maryland Medical Center’s (UMMC) Dr. Joseph Scalea, with the 2021 Golden Hour Award. Part of HAI’s Salute to Excellence program, the Golden Hour award recognizes “the efforts of an individual, group, or organization that, through a particular activity or contributions over time, has advanced the use of helicopters or UAS aircraft in the vital mission of air medical transport.”

 


The recipient of the transported kidney, 44-year-old nursing assistant Trina Glispy, was in her eighth year of dialysis for kidney failure. HAI said after that lengthy wait “she had begun to lose hope” but “destiny had another plan.”

 


As she prepped for her kidney transplant surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center, she was offered the opportunity to accept an organ delivered by drone, a mode of transport that would speed the transport and a medical first. She agreed to the delivery option.

 


Led by Scassero and Scalea, the UAS team l worked with the Living Legacy Foundation, Maryland’s organ procurement organization, on the receipt of the organ, and saw to its transport with real-time monitoring equipment.

 


“The drone flew 2.8 miles in 9.52 minutes at 300 feet to the rooftop helipad at UMMC, faster than a car could have made the trip in Baltimore traffic,” HAI said. “It landed smoothly with all organ-monitor readings in the green.”

 


That short voyage was 2.5 years in the making, the association said. After the UAS team had used a drone to carry medical equipment across the Chesapeake Bay, Scalea approached Scassero about missions involving an organ. Scassero’s team took on that challenge and built a drone with multiple redundancies, including a parachute system that could be deployed either automatically or manually to protect the organ.

 


The team also designed the real-time organ-monitoring system, which can record and upload temperature, pressure, and vibrations to the cloud for live monitoring.

 


“Nothing like this had ever been developed before,” Scassero said. “Currently, an organ is tested after harvest and then tested again after arrival to ensure it is still viable. With our monitoring system, we discovered the kidney we flew remained well within the parameters; I’d even say better than it would have in a car or helicopter.” Glispy, meanwhile, recovered from her surgery and returned to many of her former activities.

 


The team partnered with an investor and has founded MissionGO to develop and expand the use of the technology.

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

HAI Honors UM Team for Organ Delivery Via Drone

Golden Hour honorees, the University of Maryland UAS Test Site Team and Medical Center, developed a drone with monitoring equipment to deliver organs.

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

AmyWilder

News and issues about aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), covering all segments of the aviation industry; and modifications for aircraft and engines. Subjects include product support of aircraft, engines and avionics, MRO company mergers, acquisitions, announcements and personnel, Airworthiness Directives, Supplemental Type Certificate approvals and other topics.

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 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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News and information on safety procedures and concerns.

Essential news and analysis on the defense aerospace business. Your trusted source for new and ongoing programs and requirements in military aircraft (manned and unmanned), engines, avionics, weapons and associated systems, including ground-based air defense.

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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.

European operators can now fly the helicopter in EU countries

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