FLIGHT PATH QUICK FACTS Terry Palmer
Airborne Public Safety Association
Frederick, Maryland CURRENT JOB
I manage training programs for the Airborne Public Safety Association. I also chair HAI’s
Training Working Group, serve on the board of the Commission on Accreditation of Medical
Transport Systems (CAMTS), write articles for trade publications, and speak at
various aviation industry events. FIRST AVIATION JOB
I started taking flight lessons in the 1980s but couldn’t find a
stable flight school, so I sold the robotics company I owned and opened one. I was driven by the strong desire to be part of aviation.
FAVORITE HELICOPTER I don’t think I have a favorite.
They all play an important role in some operation, but I do fondly remember training in the Bell 206L-4 LongRanger and the BK 117.
How did you decide helicopter aviation was the career for you? Aviation captured my imagination when I was a small girl. I used to watch airplanes from my yard in Colonia, New Jersey. Some days we were under the flight path for landing at Newark Liberty International Airport (KEWR), 25 miles away. I shocked my parents when I said, “When
I grow up, I want to stop airplanes from crash- ing.” I remember family members saying, “Girls don’t do that.” As a teen, I discovered the world of radio-control model aviation. I flew models and went to industry events, becoming a contest director for the Academy of Model Aeronautics. I didn’t become a pilot until the late 1980s.
How did you get to your current position?
My first career was building and operating robots and special effects. Some of my clients were Walt Disney, Universal Studios, Siemens, IBM, and Kraft. During my flight-school days, I managed to get my ratings and fly many types of aircraft. When I sold the school, I went to
Terry Palmer
work for Omniflight Helicopters, where I man- aged training programs, developed training material, and specialized in human factors and crew resource management (CRM). I traveled to air medical operations around the country and taught at various industry events. I’ve been involved in safety and training most of my aviation career. Clark Kurschner, when he was Omniflight’s director of opera- tions, taught me the importance of human- factors/CRM training, and FlightSafety International taught me the value of scenario- based training in simulators to prevent acci- dents. I spent several decades working on
As chair of HAI’s Training Working Group, Terry often works with HAI staff members (from left) Zac Noble, director of flight operations and maintenance; Greg Brown, director of education and training services; and Chris Hill, senior director of safety. (Terry Palmer Photo)
50 ROTOR JUNE 2023
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