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.

Business Aviation Services Editor

Curt Epstein

A wrongful death and product liability lawsuit has been filed against Textron Aviation, Raisbeck Engineering, and others resulting from the November 18, 2022 <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2022-12-20/ntsb-report-shows-flight-break-cessna-caravan" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">crash</a> of a Cessna 208B Caravan EX in Snohomish, Washington.
At the time, the turboprop single operated by Raisbeck was being used to conduct flight testing for the company’s aerodynamic drag reduction system (DRS). Raisbeck has an STC for the system on the Caravan and it was testing to determine its applicability for the Caravan EX. That day’s mission included baseline testing of the airplane’s aft CG stall characteristics.
While the NTSB has not yet issued its final determination of the cause of the accident, the agency’s preliminary report stated “several witnesses reported seeing a white plume of smoke when they observed the airplane break into pieces” while in flight. 
Among the four killed in the crash were the two pilots and the test program director, along with Raisbeck engineer Nathan Precup, whose widow filed the lawsuit in King County Superior Court.
“Companies that manufacture and maintain aircraft that fly over our communities must ensure the aircraft can withstand normal flight operations,” said attorney Ari Friedman. “When that failure costs lives, those companies must take responsibility for the devastation they cause.”
AIN reached out to Textron and Raisbeck, neither of which provided comment on the pending litigation.

News about significant aircraft accidents and information from accident reports.

2022 Caravan Crash Spurs Wrongful Death Lawsuit

The Caravan was performing flight tests for Raisbeck Engineering at the time of the accident

A wrongful death and product liability lawsuit has been filed against Textron Aviation and several others following the November 18, 2022 crash of a Cessna 208B Caravan EX.

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Stuart “Kipp” Lau

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Aircraft departed without deicing and stalled and crashed shortly after liftoff

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News and issues relating to the aerospace industry that are related to the science, engineering and business of flight in space involving civil, industrial and military applications, and similar topics related to flight in the atmosphere of the Earth that are not covered more directly by other AINonline subject channels. In other words, both astronautical and aeronautical subjects, except for those aeronautical topics that are specifically covered elsewhere on this website.

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