Presented annually since 1956, the Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award recognises notable achievement in the field of civil or military aviation safety in method, design, invention, study, or other improvement. The Award’s recipient is selected for a “significant individual or group effort contributing to improving aviation safety, with emphasis on original contributions,” and a “significant individual or group effort performed above and beyond normal responsibilities.”

 

 

Mechanics, engineers, and others outside of top administrative or research positions should be especially considered. The contribution need not be recent, especially if the nominee has not received adequate recognition. Nominations that were not selected as past winners may be resubmitted for consideration in subsequent years. Please note that self-nominations will not be considered.

 

 

The Award Committee, composed of leaders in the field of aviation, meets each year to conduct a final review of nominees and selection of the current year’s recipient.

 

 

Please help us identify and honour this year’s most deserving recipient. Nominations, including a 1-to-2-page narrative, can be submitted via the Laura Taber Barbour Foundation website at https://ltbaward.org/the-award/nomination-form/.

Nominations will be accepted through June 2nd, 2025.

 

 

For more information, including a complete history of Award recipients, see

Onward and Upward

 

 

About the Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Foundation and Award

The Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award’s story dates back almost 80 years. On April 14, 1945, after visiting family in Pittsburgh, Laura Taber Barbour was aboard a Pennsylvania Central Airlines DC-3 when it crashed into the rugged terrain of Cheat Mountain near Morgantown, West Virginia. All passengers and crew were killed. In 1956 her husband, Dr. Clifford E. Barbour and son, Clifford E. Barbour, Jr., in close association with The Flight Safety Foundation, established the Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award in her honor. For the past 68 years, this distinguished award recognising outstanding achievements in aviation safety worldwide has been presented at Flight Safety Foundation’s International Aviation Safety Summit. In 2013, The Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Foundation was formed as an independent non-profit charitable organisation composed of members of the Award Board, the aviation community, and the Barbour family. In addition to the annual presentation of the award, in 2019 the Foundation initiated a scholarship program that supports worthy students pursuing professional aviation studies. As the Foundation broadens its scope, the Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award will continue to recognise those who significantly contributed to aviation safety.

 

For more information on the Foundation, the award, and past winners, visit https://ltbaward.org/home/