2016 AMT Next Gen Award: David Nicholas Cochran
As a child, David Nicholas Cochran, now 37, enjoyed discovering how things were made by breaking them down and fixing them. He served on a hot air balloon crew with Augusta Aviation. This experience gave him an opportunity to be around aviation and inspired him to pursue a career in this field.
Cochran received his training from South Georgia Technical College. He has achieved advanced training in Liquid Penetrant Level 2 NDT and Eddy Current Level 2 NDT.
He has had two mentors, Tony Gay and Gene Grant. "Tony introduced me to aviation and has guided me through my academic and professional career. Gene was my maintenance supervisor when I joined the Bankair staff in 2003 and taught and guided me through many paths in the field of aviation."
Accomplishments at Bankair include: authored and submitted the repair station training program to the FAA; advanced the repair station from an avionics base to adding airframes for LR 35 and MU2 series, Honeywell TPE 331 and Honeywell TFE engines; added accessory rating to the 145 repair station; authorizes, tracks, and handles outside maintenance for company aircraft when away from home base; assists outside customer AOG and routine inspection maintenance; transitioned company from a major cargo only operation to a full jet passenger operation with international capabilities; and assisted the former director of maintenance in obtaining the only STC for pinning the Learjet Aeronca thrust reversers for all LR 35 and 36 models.
John E. Dickerson, Bankair president, says, "Nick meets all the criteria of job commitment, industry involvement and contribution, achievement of his personal position and innovation in the maintenance field. His initiative at Bankair goes way beyond the call of duty, coming in early and staying late to get the job done. His dedication to aviation maintenance and the industry is considerably above the average A&P I/A with his knowledge of job duties, outstanding knowledge of computers, and the theory of aircraft systems and the Learjet 35 and 60 aircraft. A company can only be as good as the people who make it their chosen profession. The entire company voices the nomination of David Nicholas Cochran for this prestigious award."
Cochran gives back to the industry by participating in Career Day at local elementary schools 2007-present.
He plans to continue as director of maintenance at Bankair. While holding this title, he is able to help lead Bankair through the transition of adding new aircraft onto the certificate and providing service maintenance to new and existing customers.