Industry nominee receives ICAO Walter Binaghi Air Navigation Commission Laurel Award

Mr. David Nakamura (right), receives the Walter Binaghi Air Navigation Commission Laurel Award from ICAO Air Navigation Commission President, Mr. Hajime Yoshimura (left), at the opening ceremony of ICAO’s Second Global Air Navigation Industry Symposium today
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During ICAO’s Second Global Air Navigation Industry Symposium (GANIS/2) event that was held earlier this month, Mr. David Nakamura received the ICAO Walter Binaghi Air Navigation Commission Laurel Award.

ICAO’s Air Navigation Commission (ANC) is the technical body leading the development of international civil aviation Standards and Recommended Practices. Its Laurel Award is bestowed on an individual or group who, in its opinion, has made an outstanding contribution to furthering the safety, regularity and efficiency of international civil aviation through participation in the Commission’s work.

“David Nakamura was nominated for the Laurel Award by the International Coordinating Council of Aerospace Industries Associations (ICCAIA), making him the first Laurel Award recipient from industry. This is a fitting symbol of the collaboration between States and Industry that is crucial to ensuring the pertinence of the Air Navigation Commission’s work,” remarked Mr. Hajime Yoshimura, President of the ANC. “The Laurel Award recognizes Mr. Nakamura’s outstanding contribution to the safety, regularity and efficiency of international civil aviation through his valuable work on the development of performance-based navigation. It also recognizes his overall contribution to the work of the Air Navigation Commission through, inter alia, participation in the Air Traffic Management Requirements and Performance Panel (ATMRPP), the Instrument Flight Procedures Panel (lFPP), the Separation and Airspace Safety Panel (SASP) and the Performance-based Navigation Study Group (PBN SG).”

The ICAO Air Navigation Commission Chamber at ICAO Headquarters in Montréal, Canada. ANC experts are nominated and selected for their technical knowledge, and are not considered to be representing their home States when serving as Commissioners. The same is true for the experts from States and industry who serve on its many technical panels.

Since 1999, seven other individuals have received this prestigious award. It consists of a statuette replica of ‘Vuelo,’ a sculpture gifted to ICAO by the Government of Mexico that symbolizes flight and sits in the ANC Chamber.

Previous recipients are:
1999 — Mr. Olivier Carel, Direction de la Navigation Aérienne, France
2001 — Mr. R. Roy Grimes, Federal Aviation Administration, United States
2003 — Miss Kaye R. Warner, Civil Aviation Administration, United Kingdom
2006 — Mr. Arthur Bradshaw, Air Traffic and Navigation Services, Republic of South Africa
2008 — Mr. Brian Colamosca, Federal Aviation Administration, United States
2011 — Mr. Yuri Mikhailovich Fyodorov, Russian Federation
2015 — Mr. Robert Charles Butcher, Australia.