Larry Swantner brings 35 years of aviation experience, insight and flying enjoyment to Flight Safety Foundation, where he will act as manager of program development for the Basic Aviation Risk Standard (BARS) program team to broaden its profile globally.
Much of Swantner’s flying experience was in Africa, where he was reminded all too often of the pressing need for improvements in safety and operational standards. As the flight attaché to the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, in the mid to late 1980s, he participated in major accident investigations. One accident was the crash that claimed the life of the president of a southern African nation; another involved the loss of a Boeing 747 and all aboard. More recently, he has conducted surveys of several African countries to determine their commercial aviation capacity and safety oversight capability.
“About two years back, I was presenting a report on the state of African aviation to the Corporate Council on Africa’s Busin…
