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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Leader

Honored by:

Jack Douglas Howell's appreciation for aviation began at an early age. His fascination with the USAF aircraft that flew near his boyhood home and his penchant for math and science throughout his school years led him to a career as a pilot and aeronautical engineer. Later, his realization that the airplane can be a valuable contributor to world peace guided him into the regulatory field at the national and international levels.
He graduated from the University of Florida in 1965 with a Bachelor's Degree in Aerospace Engineering and entered USAF pilot training. He served at RAF Bentwaters in the UK where the 8th Air Force supported a nuclear strike role with the F-4 Phantom fighter/bomber.
At the end of his USAF commitment in 1970 he entered graduate school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to pursue his interest in aeronautical engineering. His thesis work involved the design and testing of a cockpit display of traffic information, and he used several airline pilots as subjects. Mr. Howell's work became part of the foundation for the development and implementation of the current Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance Systems (TCAS) in use throughout the global aviation community.
Upon completion of his Master of Science Degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1972, he was hired by the MIT Division of Sponsored Research and shortly thereafter, was hired as a pilot at Eastern Air Lines.
Mr. Howell's technical education, operational experiences and speaking abilities led him into the work of several safety and standards-setting organizations in the aviation industry. Consequently, he made many technical presentations and speeches including: 15 testimonies before Congressional sub-committees; appearances before the White House Science Panel and the National Academy of Science; lectures at the Boston Museum of Science; and presentations before a host of other national and international aviation conferences.
When not flying for his airline he frequently participated in flight tests, simulations, evaluations, and demonstrations of various safety technologies such as collision avoidance, terrain avoidance, windshear survival and the Global Positioning System. This included recording real-time line flying data for inclusion in mathematical modeling and simulation exercises. Additionally, he worked on the technical challenges of accident investigation, but greatly preferred prevention to investigation.
When his airline went out of business in 1989, he was appointed as the Deputy Director of the FAA's Technical Center near Atlantic City, New Jersey. In 1992 he was assigned to FAA Headquarters in Washington, DC as Manager of the Technical Programs Division. In 1995 he was appointed to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Air Navigation Bureau in Montreal, Canada. As Director, he was accorded diplomatic status and held responsible for the up-dating of 16 of the 18 ICAO Annexes. After 8 years, he returned briefly to FAA Headquarters serving as international coordinator for the FAA in the Joint Planning and Development Office. Mr. Howell retired in 2007 and resides in Ruckersville, Virginia.