David R. Hinson


David Russell Hinson is an American aircraft pilot and former head of Midway Airlines.
David R. Hinson is best known for the three years, 1993 to 1996, during which he served as Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration as an appointee of President Bill Clinton.
Hinson oversaw the government's response to the Valujet Flight 592 crash on May 11, 1996 in the Florida Everglades. According to the NTSB, the airline had improperly transported cabin chemical-oxygen generators in the cargo hold, which started a fire on board when the initiation pins were jostled and the oxygen generators began to flow. The chemical reaction inside the metal canisters created tremendous heat, ignited tires adjacent to the canisters, and the oxygen fed the fire. Eventually the cabin filled with smoke and fire from the cargo hold area.
Mr. Hinson, a graduate of the University of Washington with a B. A. degree, has been involved with flying since 1954, when he entered flight school with the Navy. After a ten-year hitch in the military In 1961, he flew as a pilot for Northwest Airlines and as an instructor pilot for United Air Lines. He then joined West Coast Airline for ten years as captain and as Director of Flight Standards and Engineering.
In 1973, Hinson moved on to other ventures, notably Hinson-Minella, Inc., a limited partnership whose investments included Flightcraft, Inc., a distributorship for Beech Aircraft in the Pacific Northwest. Then, in 1978, he joined with three other people to start Midway Airlines, which he served as chairman for six years. While working as the Executive Vice President for Douglas Aircraft, a subsidiary of McDonnell Douglas, President Clinton appointed him to head the FAA. Changes enacted by Hinson included a "One Level of Safety" program, which was intended to raise safety standards for commuter airlines.
On November 11, 1996, as Hinson was preparing to leave the FAA, he discussed some of the issues that still faced the agency.


He now serves on boards at the National Air and Space Museum and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. He continues to fly his own plane, a Beechcraft Duke, and has logged more than 8,000 hours in over 70 aircraft types.