Beverley Drake is a Senior Aviation Accident Investigator/Analyst/Federal Women’s Program Manager with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Ms. Drake’s professional career spans 37 years, including 22 years at the NTSB. She began her career as a military pilot flying the Britten Norman Islander in the jungles of Guyana, her native country. She then went on to Guyana Airways Corporation to fly the Twin Otter and Hawker Siddley 748 as pilot-in-command, on both local and international routes.
With the NTSB, Ms. Drake has served as the investigator-in-charge of over 300 small and large-scale investigations, including serving as Witness Group Chairman for USAir Flight 427, and the reconstruction of TWA 800. She has developed several safety recommendations and accomplishments, and supported the determination of probable cause statements for thousands of NTSB accidents and incidents.
Ms. Drake has received several awards, including the Chairman’s “Raise the Bar” award for her outstanding work as Project Manager on the International Family Assistance Conference and recognition as a pioneer in aircraft safety by the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals.
Ms. Drake has also presented safety seminars and safety alerts to the members of the Experimental Aircraft Association, Oshkosh, Wisconsin and The National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.
Ms Drake has a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautics, and a Master’s Degree in Aeronautical Science with dual specializations in Management and Operations, from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. Ms. Drake attended the NTSB Accident Investigation School in Washington, DC, and the University of Southern California Institute of Safety and Systems Management where she completed Aircraft and Helicopter Accident Investigation.