Well-known airline pilot and flying instructor Ken Broomhead has been awarded an Order of Australian Medal (OAM) for services to aviation in the Queen's Birthday honour's list published today.
Broomhead had a storied commercial career that took him from charter operations in PNG to the cockpit of an Ansett B747 and a Singapore B777. He has also contributed to aviation through the Australian Air Force Cadets, the Honourable Company of Air Pilots and the Royal Aeronautical Society and at one time headed CASA's flight training panel.
Broomhead was raised in PNG and compleed his flight training with the North Queensland Aero Club (NQAC), which he still visits on occasions. He returned to PNG and later flew with Papuan Air Transport (Patair) as First Officer on DC3s.
Later in his career, Broomhead joined Ansett, where he went on to be fleet manager and qualified on most types the airline operated, including the B747 during Ansett's brief foray into international aviation in the 1990s.
His career took him to Singapore Airlines flying B777s and then to Tiger Airways as the airline's first Head of Flying Operations (Chief Pilot).
Outside of operations, Broomhead was the chairman of CASA's Flight Training Panel for five years and became a Master Air Pilot with the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators (GAPAN - now the Honourable Company of Air Pilots) and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. He also served on the National Council of the Australian Air Force Cadets.
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Former CASA Director of Aviation Safety and CEO Shane Carmody was today awarded a Public Service Medal (PSM) for "modernising air safety regulations and drone pilot licensing." Carmody took over as Acting DAS in 2016 and was the head of CASA full time from June 2017 to 31 December 2020.