The former president of Sikorsky Aircraft was killed along with his passenger when his P-51D crashednear Maricopa, Arizona, on Friday. Jeffrey Pino, 61, was head of Sikorsky from 2006 to 2012. He was flying the Mustang, named Big Beautiful Doll, when it went down. The passenger was identified as Nickolas Tramontano, 71, of Brookfield, Connecticut. There was an intense post-crash fire. The NTSB is looking for eyewitnesses to the accident. Pino had lived in Chandler, Arizona, since his retirement from Sikorsky. Tramontano was well-known in the pilot community at Oxford-Waterbury Airport, where he was affectionately referred to as the “mayor.”
Pino presided over some important developments at Sikorsky, including the Collier Trophy-winning high-speed X2 helicopter.”During his six years as (president) of Sikorsky, Jeff brought personal energy and passion for aviation innovation to our industry,” current Sikorsky President Dan Schultz said in a statement. “We remember Jeff as a leader, pioneer, innovator and advocate.” Pino was vice chairman of Colorado-based XTI Aircraft, which is developing a ducted fan VTOL aircraft called the TriFan.
