![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Russ-Lawton.png\")
“It would be difficult to overstate the significance of\nRuss Lawton in the development of aviation safety programs for on-demand\ncharter operators and corporate flight departments,\u201d said ACSF President Bryan\nBurns. \u201cA true gentleman and beloved industry colleague, Russ was respected for\nhis vision, leadership, integrity, knowledge and strong advocacy for our\naviation safety community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ACSF\u2019s first full-time employee, Lawton joined the\nFoundation in 2006 as the Director of Safety Management, charged with\ndeveloping the first Industry Audit Standard (IAS) for air charter and\nfractional operators. In this capacity, he created the standards by which\nthird-party auditors would use to accredit member organizations. The IAS was,\nand continues to be, the most stringent, robust aviation safety standard\navailable for Part 91 and 135 operators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During Lawton\u2019s tenure from 2006 to 2022, the ACSF grew its\nmembership from zero to nearly 300 companies. He also helped to develop and\nfacilitate the highly respected ACSF Safety Symposium, drawing hundreds of\naviation safety experts annually. And one of his most significant\naccomplishments was founding the ACSF\u2019s Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP)\nin partnership with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The ASAP allows\nsmaller aircraft operators a safety-reporting program that tracks potential\nissues without fear of enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For more than 40 years, Lawton shared his aviation safety\nexpertise in various volunteer capacities. The FAA selected him to serve on its\naviation rulemaking committee, tasked with developing Safety Management System\n(SMS) requirements for air carriers, repair stations and others. He was a\nmember of the ASIAS General Issues and Analysis team and was previously\nresponsible for developing and implementing SMS programs for member companies\nof the National Air Transportation Association (NATA). And, for more than 15\nyears, he was an active member of the National Business Aviation Association\u2019s\nSafety Committee. Additionally, he has contributed as an editorial consultant\nto the Flight Safety Foundation and served as Editor-in-Chief of the \u201cIFR\nRefresher\u201d magazine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prior to joining the ACSF, Russ was the Director of\nOperations for Wyvern Consulting, in Nashua, New Hampshire, where he was the\ncompany\u2019s lead safety auditor. He was in the first group of accredited auditors\nfor the International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From 1987 to 2000, Lawton was an Analyst and Consultant for\nEvents Analysis Inc. & Advanced Aviation Concepts where he assisted the\nNational Safety Transportation Board (NTSB) and the FAA on various safety\ninitiatives. For 11 years prior, he served as Vice President of Operations for\nthe Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) and its AOPA Air Safety\nFoundation based in Frederick, Maryland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Russ earned a master\u2019s degree\nin safety from the University of Southern California and a bachelor\u2019s in air\ncommerce from the Florida Institute of Technology. In 2022, he was the\nrecipient of the prestigious Business Aviation Meritorious Service Award from\nthe Flight Safety Foundation for his outstanding service and contributions to\ncorporate aviation safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lawton is survived by his wife of 38 years, Sherry Marshall,\nhis stepdaughter, Cara Marshall of Savannah, Georgia, and two grandsons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Celebration of Life will be held in February. In lieu of\nflowers, the Lawton family has asked that donations be made to the Air Charter\nSafety Foundation, 1800 M St NW Suite 400S, Washington, DC 20036. Details\nregarding a scholarship in Russ Lawton\u2019s name will be forthcoming.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF) is deeply saddened by the passing of Russ Lawton, who held key roles within aviation safety organizations for more than 40 years, including most recently as the Foundation\u2019s Vice President of Operations. After a prolonged illness, he died on January 14th at the age of 70. “It would be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-district-of-columbia"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24548"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24548\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24550,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24548\/revisions\/24550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}