LAST HOVER
Matthew Zuccaro Past HAI President and CEO
F
ORMER HAI PRESIDENT AND CEO MATTHEW ZUCCARO died Feb. 25, 2020, at age 70, just weeks after retiring from the association. “Matt was one of a kind in our industry,” says current HAI President and CEO James A.
Viola. “Throughout his career, he made safe helicopter operations his priority, and we are a better, stronger, safer industry today because of his efforts on behalf of rotorcraft.” An HAI member since the early 1980s, Matt was elected to HAI’s Board of Directors in 1987
and served as chairman in 1991. He became president of HAI in 2005 and retired in January 2020. During HAI HELI-EXPO 2020 in Anaheim that month, Matt was honored with the FAA’s Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award, recognizing his 50 years of professionalism and skill as a pilot. During Matt’s time leading HAI, the association was a forceful advocate for its members on
regulatory and legislative issues. When topics such as veterans’ flight-training benefits, air traffic control privatization, user fees, and the safe integration of drones into the airspace were debated, Matt and his team were there—often as the only ones representing the helicopter industry. Among his many accomplishments, Matt may be best remembered for a 2013 ROTOR column encouraging pilots to “land the damn helicopter” in situations in which, by proceeding, they would endanger themselves and their passengers. From that column, HAI’s Land & LIVE program was born, saving countless lives around the world—a fitting legacy for a man who was passionate about safety in the industry he loved so much. For more information on Matt’s life and career, please see the Winter 2020 issue of ROTOR.
Michael A. Fahey Former Columbia Helicopters President and CEO
R 76 ROTOR 2020 Q2
ETIRED COLUMBIA HELICOPTERS PRESIDENT AND CEO MICHAEL A. FAHEY died Apr. 7, 2020, at age 76. Mike worked for the heavy-lift helicopter company for 39 years. Mike grew up in Portland, Oregon, and graduated from Portland State University in
1966 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting; he became a CPA in 1968. From 1966 to 1975, Mike was employed by Arthur Young & Co., where one of his assignments was an auditing project with Columbia Helicopters, a small but growing firm with a hangar at Portland’s Swan Island Heliport. There, he met Columbia founder and industry pioneer Wes Lematta, with whom he worked closely for many years. He joined Columbia in 1975 as the company’s director of finance and was later named VP of finance. Mike was also involved in business and program development at Columbia, including acquisitions and contract negotiations. During his tenure with the company, he played a significant role in many initiatives, including purchasing Columbia’s first Boeing Model 234 Chinook. In 2006, Mike negotiated the purchase of the type and production certificates for the Boeing Model 234 Chinook and Vertol 107-II helicopters. In January 1998, Mike assumed the duties of executive vice president in addition to those of VP of finance. In April 1999, he became company president, and in January 2012, CEO. Additionally, Mike served on Columbia’s board of directors. He retired in December 2014.
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