Lombardo covers business aviation maintenance-related issues. He is also a writer and on-air reporter for AINtv. He has over 3000 articles published and is the author of several books on aircraft systems for pilots and on the topic of flight simulation.
He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in education from the University of Illinois, has taught aviation for over 35 years in industry and as a university professor and academic dean at three different universities. He is also a frequent seminar and after-dinner motivational speaker.&nbsp;
Lombardo holds an A&amp;P Certificate, ATP, CFI and Ground Instructor ratings. He was a corporate pilot and was a research pilot and flight instructor at the University of Illinois. An FAA Safety Counselor for over 25 years, he was one of the original 13 Counselors appointed to the FAA’s Airworthiness Safety Program for maintenance technicians.&nbsp;

Contributor

David A. Lombardo

AERO COMMANDER 500B, RAYVILLE, LA., NOV. 1, 2002–At 11:30 a.m. the 1960 Aero Commander was destroyed when it crashed while maneuvering near Rayville. N1HV was owned and operated by the airline transport-rated pilot who was killed in the accident along with two pilot-rated passengers. It departed the Monroe Regional Airport (MLU), Monroe, La., at 11:09 a.m. for a local flight to demonstrate the airplane to a prospective buyer. No flight plan was filed and VMC prevailed in the area. 
Several witnesses either heard the airplane or saw it for a few seconds before it disappeared from view. One, a private pilot, reported seeing the airplane at an altitude of approximately 1,000 ft agl doing power-off stalls. He described the first stall initiation and recovery as “good.” The power was reduced, the nose pitched up and there was an increase in power as the airplane recovered from the maneuver, he reported. During the second stall, the nose rose higher than it did during the first maneuver, the right wing dropped and the aircraft assumed a steep nose-down attitude, he continued. The airplane rotated about 1.5 revolutions before disappearing behind trees. Before impact the witness heard the engines rev up.

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AERO COMMANDER 500B, RAYVILLE, LA., NOV.

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