Pelton Receives NAA, FAA Awards This Week
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Jack Pelton (center) with the NAA’s McDonald Distinguished Statesman of Aviation Award after the presentation on November 29. With him is (left) U.S. Rep. Ron Estes of Kansas and (right) Bob Stangarone, who worked with Pelton for many years at Cessna Aircraft. -
Jack Pelton (left) speaks at FAA Headquarters in Washington after receiving the agency’s Friend of Safety Award. With him is Ali Bahrami, FAA associate administrator for safety.
November 30, 2017 - EAA CEO and Chairman of the Board Jack J. Pelton received two prestigious awards this week in the Washington, D.C., area, earning recognition from the National Aeronautic Association and the FAA.
On Wednesday evening, Pelton was one of six recipients of the annual Wesley McDonald Distinguished Statesman of Aviation Award. That honor has been given by NAA each year since 1955 to “outstanding Americans who, by their efforts over an extended period of years, have made contributions of significant value to aeronautics and have reflected credit upon America and themselves.”
Along with Pelton, those receiving the award on Wednesday included Stephen Alterman, Ali Bahrami, Maj. Gen. Charles Bolden, Jeff Hamiel, and Phil Woodruff. The presentations were part of the NAA’s annual fall awards ceremony in Arlington, Virginia.
EAA founder Paul Poberezny had been honored with the award in 1987, while Wittman Regional Airport namesake Steve Wittman was honored in 1985.
On Tuesday, Pelton received the FAA’s Friend of Safety Award, which recognizes a person outside the FAA’s aviation safety area who has demonstrated advisory or collaborative excellence in support of Aviation Safety. He was nominated for his leadership at EAA as a champion for certification of low-cost, safety-enhancing equipment for general aviation. EAA’s affordable safety initiative has brought the FAA together with innovative companies that had typically not been part of the certified equipment market, but had forward-thinking ideas for increasing safety.
