Richard is the Branch Manager of Airworthiness and Engineering at the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). In this role, Richard leads the Airworthiness and Engineering Branch which is functionally responsible for airworthiness standards development, aircraft certification, continued operational safety, and appointment and surveillance of authorised design and manufacturing organisations. Richard holds regulatory delegations from the Director of Aviation Safety and he is the CASA Head of Airworthiness responsible for compliance to ICAO Annex 8. Richard previously worked as the CASA Manager of Aircraft Certification.
Richard leads CASA’s strategic direction for the certification of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) aircraft where he takes a collaborative approach with other National Aviation Authorities to maximise international alignment in the certification of these aircraft. This work includes not just the certification process and use of performance based airworthiness standards, but also the validation of AAM aircraft type certified by other Authorities. Richard promotes an integrated approach with his operational and flight standards colleagues to ensure regulatory policy settings for the introduction of AAM and other emerging technologies are proportionate to risk whilst supporting innovation.
Prior to working at CASA, Richard spent 15 years working in support of Royal Australian Navy aviation where he held positions including Navy Aviation System Program Office Chief of Airworthiness, Seahawk engineering manager, and project engineering manager for a Defence capital acquisition project. Richard was a Delegate of the Defence Aviation Safety Authority for 8 years.
Richard is a Chartered Professional Engineer of Engineers Australia and attained a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Canterbury. Richard has completed post graduate education in Systems Engineering and System Safety.
