A well-known leader in aviation died in a plane crash on Oct. 1 near the Lake Placid Airport in New York: Richard McSpadden, 63, was senior Vice President for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, and was a highly regarded air safety expert.
Reports say that he was in the right seat of a Cessna 177RG Cardinal. In the left seat was former New England Patriots tight end Russ Francis, also a pilot. The plane had lifted off when an emergency caused the men to turn it around and return to the airport. But the plane crashed into some trees on the way back. Both men survived the crash initially but died shortly afterwards, according to reports from those on the ground.
McSpadden was no stranger to Alaska and the flying community of the Last Frontier. He visited the state frequently and was a panelist for the 2019 NTSB summit on safety in Alaska. This year, he gave a presentation at the the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s 2023 Great Alaska Aviation Gathering in the Mat-Su Valley, during which he talked about how the mind works under duress.
According to his biography on AOPA’s website, he was a native of Panama City, Florida, and started flying as a teenager, eventually logging over 5,000 hours flying a variety of civilian and military aircraft. McSpadden was a commercial pilot, CFII, MEI with SES, MES ratings and a 525S (Citation Jet Single Pilot) type rating. He taught his son to fly, instructed his daughter to solo in their Piper Super Cub, previously owned a 1950 Navion that was in his family for almost 40 years, and recently owned a 1993 Piper Super Cub.
McSpadden earned a degree in economics from the University of Georgia, and a master of public administration from Troy University. He was a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Air War College.
Prior to joining AOPA, McSpadden had a successful career in the information technology industry, leading large, geographically dispersed operations providing business-critical IT services. McSpadden also served in the Air Force for 20 years, including the prestigious role of commander and flight leader of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds flight demonstration team where he led over 100 flight demonstrations, flying the lead aircraft, AOPA wrote.
https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2019/november/pilot/safety-spotlight-last-frontier
