DEPARTMENT FOR
TRANSPORT News Release (129) issued by The Government News Network
on 30 July 2008
The Secretary of
State for Transport has appointed Captain David Chapman as a
member of the board of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). He will
take over as Group Director, Safety Regulation on 14 November when
the term of office of the present Director, Mike Bell, comes to an end.
Captain Chapman, 60, is a former naval officer and test pilot who
joined the CAA in 1988. He is currently Head of the Flight
Operations Division within the CAA's Safety Regulation Group.
As Group Director, Captain Chapman's key tasks will include
contributing to the continuous improvement of international safety
standards in aviation and ensuring that CAA standards are achieved
in a co-operative and cost-effective manner. The appointment is
for four years and will initially be at a salary of £175,000 per year.
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. The CAA is responsible for the regulation of civil aviation in
the United Kingdom and is the Government's principal advisor
on civil aviation matters. It has specific responsibility for
aviation safety, consumer protection, airspace policy and the
economic regulation of the industry.
2. The Safety Regulation Group is the largest directorate of the
CAA and is based at Gatwick. It assures air safety standards by
working within the international and European regulatory
framework, working in partnership with the European Aviation
Safety Agency. The group oversees the design, manufacture,
operation and maintenance of aircraft, the competence of airlines,
flight crews, air traffic controllers and maintenance engineers,
and the safety of licensed aerodromes, air traffic services and
general aviation activities.
3. David Chapman served in the Royal Navy for nineteen years,
qualifying as an Engineering Test Pilot in 1977. In 1982,
following a tour as the Engineer Officer of a Sea Harrier
Squadron, he was promoted to Commander and appointed to the
aircraft carrier HMS Invincible as the Engineer in Charge of the
embarked air group. After an appointment in the Ministry of
Defence he resigned from the Royal Navy in 1986 and became a
Flight Instructor at the United States Navy Test Pilots School,
where he assisted in the training of new test pilots.
4. He joined the CAA in 1988, as a Test Pilot, and since then has
held various management appointments, including the Head of Flight
Test and Head of the Flight Operations Department. In 2004 he
became the Head of the Operating Standards Division, which was
reformed in 2006 as the Flight Operations Division, responsible
for Commercial Air Transport operations, corporate, aerial work,
sporting and recreational aviation activity including civil air displays.
5. Captain Chapman continues to fly helicopters and also the A320
family of aircraft. He has a first class honours degree in
mechanical engineering and is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical
Society and has no political affiliations.
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