Stephen Carbone

Former Major Aviation Accident Investigator

Stephen Carbone has been involved in commercial aviation since 1982. he has worked in both the operations (flight) side of a major cargo airline and the airworthiness (maintenance) side. from 1982 to 1987 he worked both domestic and international flights out of JFK airport; his involvement included: the weight and balance of narrow-body and wide-body aircraft, overseeing contractors, customs, deicing, and teaching ramp personnel.

1987 through 1997, he worked as a flight line and hangar mechanic in Memphis and omaha/eppley airfield. he performed heavy maintenance on the airline’s fleet of both narrow-body and wide-body aircraft. his experience reached into every system on these aircraft, which included modifications and engineering changes. In 1997, stephen carbone went into management at newark international airport; there he supervised 35 mechanics on the night shift. his duties included overseeing the safety of over 2000 ramp employees. while at newark, he acquired his graduate degree from embry-riddle aeronautical university in aviation systems safety.

in 2001, stephen carbone began working for the national transportation safety board (NTSB) as the first (and only) federal aviation administration (FAA) certificated airframe and powerplant mechanic-turned-major accident investigator. he investigated many major accidents, both domestic and international. while at the nTSB he wrote and taught classes at the NTSB Academy in ashburn, virginia; he acted as an international liaison to colombia and taiwan. he was the nTSB’s national resource specialist to the field in all issues aircraft maintenance and air cargo. In addition, Stephen carbone taught undergraduate courses for Embry-riddle at the patuxent (PAX) river naval air base education center in maryland.

in 2004, stephen transferred to the fAA. he was hired as an aviation safety inspector (ASI) in washington, dC. here he helped write fAA policy, participated in regulation writing and consulted out stations as the air cargo point-of-contact. he later moved to boston, where he conducted numerous investigations and inspections of air operators. stephen continued this work in virginia, where his experience proved valuable in safety investigations across the country.

Stephen wrote many safety articles for popular maintenance magazines; this was where his concept of ‘lessons unlearned’ first took shape. he moved his article writing to his own website: danieltenace.com, named after the protagonist of his novels. in addition, stephen authored and taught fAA courses at the fAA academy in oklahoma city, oklahoma.

Stephen Carbone’s career, since 1982, has been in aviation safety and accident prevention. he has worked many sides of aviation: operations, airworthiness, the hangar floor, the flight line, management, regulation writing, major aviation accident investigation, surveillance and oversight. he shrugs off the label of ‘expert’, instead pursuing a career that works with the aviation industry, especially those breaking into the industry, on the importance of aviation safety and the pursuit of root causes while analyzing uncovered facts in accident investigations.

at the beginning of each month he analyzes another past accident report to determine what was done right and what was missed. these articles, called ‘aircraft accidents and lessons unlearned’, are meant to engage all the aviation industry in conversations to improve safety and prevent the repeating of accidents.