Top Dogs At EASA Are Non Pilots . . .
EASA Executive Director: Patrick Goudou NON PILOT
Patrick Goudou was born in 1950 in Paris, France. After graduating from the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, he went on to train at the Ecole Superieure de l'Aeronautique et de l' Espace in Toulouse with a specialization in aero-engines.
In 1975 he started his professional career at the French General Delegation for Armaments (Delegation Generale pour l'Armement - DGA), where he worked primarily in the aeronautical sector. For ten years he was responsible for testing civil and military aero-engines at the DGA Engines Test Centre at Saclay. He was then appointed to a series of management posts in economic control and industrial strategy, with particular emphasis on the aerospace industry and the question of its restructuring to European level. In 1997 he became Director for Commercial and International Affairs at the French shipyard DCN.
At the beginning of 2002 he was appointed Chief Executive of the French Aeronautical Maintenance Agency (Service de la maintenance aeronautique - SMA), a body responsible for engineering, industrial maintenance and repairs to aircraft, engines and aircraft equipment, as well as for the design and production of aeronautical parts.
He has been Executive Director of the European Aviation Safety Agency since the Agency's start of operations in 2003.
He is married and has three children.
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Approvals & standardisation Director - Trevor Woods NON PILOT
Trevor Woods commenced his career as an apprentice at British Aerospace. He graduated in Aeronautical Engineering and was later awarded a Master of Business Administration. Following his graduation, he worked in the Military Aircraft Division of British Aerospace as a Future Projects Engineer in the development of supersonic VSTOL aircraft.
He moved to the UK CAA in the design certification of aircraft and over time covered all aircraft categories from balloons to supersonic transport leading both national and international certification projects including JAA certification of the Next Generation of Boeing 737 aircraft. Through this he was engaged in the development of working arrangements with FAA that encompassed cooperative and concurrent certification along with what was then a new approach to determining the applicable rules for derivative aircraft.
Positions that he held in the UK CAA included Head of UK Aeroplanes and Rotorcraft Certification, and Head of Strategy and Policy for initial and continuing airworthiness. During this period he was an active participant in the JAA Rulemaking Sectorial Team and subsequently the EASA Advisory Group of National Authorities (AGNA). He was also very active in the ICAO Airworthiness Panel which completely overhauled Annex 8 of the Convention.
When EASA was formed he played a central role in the UK CAA’s transition programme to accommodate the initial Basic EASA Regulation. This included organisational restructuring, the transfer of responsibilities to EASA and the work that the UK CAA carried out on behalf of the Agency.
In January 2008 he was appointed as Chief Operating Officer of Air Safety Support International. This is a subsidiary company of the UK CAA providing air safety support and regulation for the UK Overseas Territories.
He is married and has three children.
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Rulemaking Director: Jules A.J.M. Kneepkens NON PILOT
Jules Kneepkens was born in 1955 and is a Dutch national. After graduating from the Utrecht University in Social Sciences with a focus on International Political Relations and Development Co-operation (University of Amsterdam), Mr Kneepkens started his professional career in 1983 as a project manager in development aid and became soon the Chairman of a secular European network of non-governmental organisations in Brussels.
From 1990 to 1991 he was working for a member of the Dutch parliament. After that he joined the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management first as Head of the Management and Infrastructure Strategy Division and as of 1996 as Head of the Environment and Country Planning in the Ministry's Civil Aviation Division.
In 2002 he was appointed Director Civil Aviation and International Affairs of the Dutch Directorate of Civil Aviation and Transport where he was responsible for safety, security, international aviation policy, environmental issues, air traffic management and privatisation of airports. At the beginning of 2007 Mr Kneepkens assumed the position of Director General Civil Aviation of the Kingdom of Belgium. In both positions he was a member of the EASA Management Board and held functions as Vice-President of Eurocontrol, board member of the JAA-Board, Chair of the European Security Institute EASTI, Advisory Board member of the Safety Training Institute EASTO in the Netherlands, Chair of the Steering Group Functional Airspace Block Central Europe, Chair of 'International Financial Facility Safety' (IFFAS) established by ICAO.
Jules Kneepkens was appointed Rulemaking Director of the European Aviation Safety Agency as of 1 September 2008 by the Agency's Management Board.
He is married and has two children
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Certification Director: Dr. Norbert Lohl NON PILOT
Dr. Norbert Lohl is a German national. After his University Education in Physics between 1969 and 1976 he started his professional career at the German Aeronautics Research Center DLR on Flight Guidance and Navigation where he made his Doctor-Engineer degree in aeronautics. In 1982 he joined the German Aviation Authority Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA) starting as Project Certification Manager in the Transport Category Airplanes Division. From 1990 he acted as Head of the LBA Regional Office Berlin and became in 1993 Head of the LBA Engine/Equipment Type Certification Division. From 1998 he was Deputy of the LBA Director and Head of the LBA Administration Department. In 2001, he became Head of the LBA Commercial Operators Department. Dr Norbert Lohl has been Director of Certification at EASA since the beginning of 2004.