Stephen Carbone - A Personal Bio

Stephen Carbone is an FAA-certificated airframe and powerplant (A&P) mechanic/technician with 40 years of experience in aircraft line and hangar maintenance, airline operations, major accident investigation and government oversight. Stephen is a published author, a contributor to two aircraft maintenance magazines and owns his own business: Aircraft Maintenance Safety Professionals (AMSP), LLC, which he launched in January 2022 upon retirement from the FAA.

Stephen was trained and qualified on the FedEx cargo airline’s fleet, including B727, DC-10, MD-11, A300 and A310 aircraft. His hangar experience was comprised of heavy maintenance, including gear changes, flight control rigging, engine changes – all models, C checks, etc. He gained his flight line experience at the FedEx hub in Memphis airport and the field station at Omaha’s Eppley Airfield. His aircraft maintenance management experience was at the Newark-Liberty airport FedEx Metroplex where he supervised 45 mechanics on 22 gates covering 52 scheduled and ad hoc flights per weeknight. He was also the Metroplex’s safety coordinator.

At the NTSB, Stephen was the sole FAA-certificated A&P major accident investigator in the aircraft maintenance specialty. He served as a liaison to the Taiwanese Aviation Safety Council and the Colombian Safety Group, assisting and training these countries’ accident investigators on two separate accidents. Stephen wrote factual and analysis reports for each accident he worked. He was an interviewer for NTSB Hearings and led the aircraft maintenance investigations into such accidents as American 587, Air Midwest 5481, Emery 11 and Colgan 9446. Stephen developed the process of interviewing aircraft technicians and their management following an accident that improved the investigatory process.

Stephen’s work in the FAA included regulation writing and as an inspector in the Air Carrier Maintenance Branch while stationed in Washington, DC. In the Eastern Regional Office, he was a member of the Air Carrier division, conducting operator investigations, on-site surveillance and certificate holder safety audits. He was involved in FAA office air safety investigations, providing an unbiased look at many office certificate holders, such as Part 135, Part 121 and Part 145 repair stations. Stephen was part of the Flight Standards Evaluation Program – FSEP – as an auditor assuring the FAA met the standards as an ISO 9001 organization.

Stephen acquired his Masters of Aeronautical Science degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) in 2001. He taught, wrote and instructed aircraft maintenance courses at the FAA Academy and the NTSB Academy. At the ERAU’s Pax River satellite facility he taught undergraduate courses in the Navy base’s education center.

Stephen has over forty years working with air cargo in both industry and government. He opened the FedEx European gateway operation in JFK, being heavily involved in hazardous materials, international and with contract service providers. His air cargo experience led to his being the national subject matter expert for the NTSB and the FAA Eastern Regional point of contact.

Since 2014, Stephen has maintained two websites, both dedicated to the advancement of aviation safety, specifically in aircraft maintenance. He discontinued his original website, https://danieltenace.com which contributed to the success of his first two Air Crash Files novels written to introduce aviation people, particularly young people, to the aircraft accident investigation process.

The first active website, https://www.aviationlessonsunlearned.com was – and still is – dedicated to root cause analysis, where closed accidents are reviewed on a monthly basis, taking the analysis far beyond the NTSB’s Probable Cause, to determine Root Cause, which was the fundamental reason for any accident.

The second active website, https://www.acmx-safety-pros.com is dedicated to his new business and outlines what AMSP, LLC does.

His websites help those who enjoy aviation, both old and new, to appreciate aviation safety at its core.