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.
Seven more MD-11 airworthiness directives hit the streets yesterday, continuing a trend of correcting electrical system shortcomings that started soon after the crash of Swissair flight 111 18 months ago. The latest ADs give MD-11 operators up to one year from the ADs' March 23 effective dates to make several inspections and upgrades. Parts covered by the rules include battery ground cable installations, avionics compartment terminal strips, two wire bundles, circuit breakers, ramp deflector assemblies, and the 90% brake pedal position switch.
With the Stage 3 operations deadline bearing down, FAA clarified an 18-year-old rule governing Stage 2 operations for extreme maintenance purposes and vowed to monitor closely operators' use of it in the post-Stage 2 era. A January 1982 rule allows operators to intermix engines and/or nacelles for maintenance purposes for up 90 days without penalties for violating noise regulations. As the deadline for mandatory Stage 3 compliance in the U.S. approached, FAA got several requests regarding the rule and its applicability beyond Jan. 1.
The evolution is apparent in both the language used in the latest set of proposed rules and the tone now being taken by industry participants who, by their own accounts, finally are being listened to by the feds.
