Page 3 - Forum-2020-JulyToSeptember

PRESIDENT’S VIEW

TOBY CARROLL RETIRES

utting my thoughts and feelings into words about a life- Upon completing his active duty, Toby worked for a company
long air safety advocate and ISASI activist with whom I that investigated aviation accidents for various manufacturers
have worked closely for my entire accident investigation and subsequently for the U.S. National Transportation Safety
Pcareer is difficult. And in this case, it is about someone Board at its New York field office. My first encounter with Toby
who has never been at a loss for words. was during this time in the late 1970s when we investigated a
So I will just say it. Toby Carroll has recently retired as presi- general aviation accident together. Toby joined ISASI in 1982.
dent of the U.S. National Society and as the U.S. councilor—po- And in all the years since then, he’s missed only two ISASI
sitions he has held since 2009. Prior to that, he was vice presi- annual seminars. My wife and I became good friends with Toby
dent and treasurer of the Dallas-Ft. Worth Chapter. He served in and his wife, Kathy, and always looked forward to the council
those offices with commitment and zeal on behalf of the Society meetings and seminars to spend time together.
and aviation safety throughout the world. In 1985, Toby became the manager and later the director of
Toby’s military service in the Army included a tour as a flight safety for Continental Airlines, where he was instrumen-
fixed-wing pilot in Vietnam and then assignment to the Army tal in establishing numerous safety programs—many of which
Aviation School as a committee chief/instructor. Following ac- are now industry-standard practices. He was a strong advocate
tive duty, Toby served in the Army Reserve and National Guard for proactive safety programs and chaired numerous aviation
as a company commander and operations officer. Toby always industry committees.
claims that he was an accidental air safety investigator. He was I was reacquainted with Toby on a Continental Airline acci-
“volunteered” to participate in an accident investigation that he dent investigation after I transferred to Washington, D.C., and
found interesting and challenging. He took the path less trave- was on the FAA go-team in 1980. I was an FAA investigator, and
led, and the rest is aviation safety history. His final assignment he was with the Continental team that participated in NTSB in-
was as the 50th brigade safety officer where he established vestigations. He also served as a technical advisor to the NTSB
the brigade’s aviation and ground safety programs. During his accredited representatives on International Civil Aviation Or-
military career, Toby received numerous decorations, includ- ganization Annex 13 investigations. I quickly learned that Toby
ing the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with 14 oak was the “go-to” person if I needed information about airlines,
clusters, the Bronze Star, and an Army Commendation Medal especially their safety practices and procedures. During his
with cluster. active investigation career, Toby participated or was in charge
of more than 400 accident and incident investigations. And he
was always ready to share his experience and expertise—to an-
yone who would listen. I learned a lot about safety investigation
techniques and procedures from him—many things you might
not understand as well from books or training classes. Some-
times my FAA colleagues would ask where I got so much good
airline information. I just said my source was reliable.
ISASI recognized Toby’s lifetime contributions to aviation
safety and to ISASI with the
Jerome F. Lederer Award in 2016.
He has been a positive force for
air safety throughout his career,
and his penchant for passing on
his expertise to others—including
me—will ensure that his contri-
butions will continue for genera-
tions to come. All of us involved
in ensuring air safety owe Toby a
great debt and wish him well in
his retirement.
Toby Carroll, U.S. National Society president, left, receives the 2016 Frank Del Gandio
Jerome F. Lederer Award from ISASI President Frank Del Gandio. ISASI President
July-September 2020 ISASI Forum • 3