Sean Broderick covers aviation safety, MRO, and the hardware side of the airline business from Aviation Week Network's Washington, D.C. office.
Broderick's aviation career started in 1991, working for Airbus in Toulouse. His industry experience includes four years with an aviation consultancy, where he helped launch a U.S. Part 121 carrier; 12 years with the American Association of Airport Executives, where he served as editor of Airport Magazine; and 20 years in full- and part-time roles with Aviation Week writing primarily about safety and the aftermarket.
Broderick was named the 2020 Aerospace Journalist of the Year by the Aerospace Media Awards. He also shared in a 2020 Neal Award for Best News Coverage with Aviation Week Network colleagues. Broderick and Aviation Week colleague John Croft shared the 2015 Flight Safety International Cecil A. Brownlow Publication Award recognizing "significant contributions by journalists to aviation safety awareness."
He graduated from James Madison University with a B.S. in Communications ('91) and earned an M.S. in Integrated Marketing Communications ('13) from West Virginia University.
FAA in late November signed off on proposed special conditions for an agency-developed fuel tank inerting system tailored to Boeing 747s that lay the groundwork for what some in the industry believe will lead to an agency mandate for similar systems on all airliners. The flammability reduction system (FRS) is designed to inert standard fuel tanks on all 747s by reducing oxygen levels in tanks' empty space.
The debate over how far design approval holders must go to satisfy an FAA requirement for providing instructions for continued airworthiness (ICA) to qualified third-party repair stations may be put to rest soon. FAA is considering a formal complaint against Airbus filed by the Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA).
The National Transportation Safety Board, acting on data gleaned from two closely scrutinized incidents, wants FAA to order revisions to how post-incident inspections are handled when aircraft are subjected to very high loads during in-flight upsets. After analyzing severe in-flight upsets involving an American Airlines Airbus A300-600 and a Comair Bombardier CRJ, NTSB concluded that return-to-service instructions provided by the manufacturers were not thorough enough to detect damage.
