A lifelong aviation enthusiast who joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in 2007, Curt came to&nbsp;the publication&nbsp;from the broadcast industry where he was a national science and technology television reporter and producer. He writes on the FBO field, aviation finance, and sustainable aviation and occasionally contributes to&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;sister publication&nbsp;Business Jet Traveler. Curt was a member of the AINtv reporting staff that won the 2008 Aerospace Journalist of the Year award for Best Airshow Daily. That same year, he was a finalist for another AJOYA award. He earned an AJOYA for Best Business Aviation Submission in 2018 and was a finalist in that category in 2021. He received the National Air Transportation Association’s&nbsp; Aviation Journalist Award in 2012 and won a Pegasus Sapphire Business Aviation Award for outstanding journalism in 2021.
Before joining AIN, Curt worked with&nbsp;Consumer Reports’ television division, CRTV, and for several local television news staffs. An honors graduate of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, he earned a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Boston University in 1995. Curt lives in New York State with his wife and two young sons.

Senior Editor

Curt Epstein

Twin Commander 690C, Wray, Colo., Jan. 15, 2009–The Commander, operated by J-W Operating, was destroyed when it crashed four miles from its destination of Wray Municipal Airport, killing both pilots and the passenger. 
 According to witnesses, the turboprop twin crossed over a highway at low altitude and then pitched to a near vertical attitude and began to rotate before hitting the ground nose first and bursting into flame. 
 The Commander had flown approximately 25 hours between its last 150-hour inspection and the accident. IFR conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, with a forecast of moderate ice between the freezing level and 14,000 feet. The vertical icing probability near Wray ranged from zero at the surface to 76 percent at 5,900 feet msl. A pilot in a King Air operating in the vicinity reported ice accumulation that his aircraft’s de-ice boots were unable to shed cleanly.&nbsp;

News about significant aircraft accidents and information from accident reports.

Icing Eyed in Commander Crash

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News about bills, laws, regulations and other governmental decisions affecting aviation and aerospace. Topics include FAA re-authorizations, taxes on fuel and aviation activities, environmental legislation, ICAO decisions, governmental mediation of labor conflicts and World Trade Organization disputes and decisions.

News and information on safety procedures and concerns.

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