Deaths - A key DGAC figure has gone...

We are sad to announce the death of Bernard Palayret on December 24 at the age of 95.

After completing a preparatory course at Fermat in Toulouse, he entered the X engineering school, graduating with the third class of air navigation engineers in 1948. He began his career overseas as head of air navigation at the civil aviation directorate in Indochina from 1951 to 1954, before taking over as acting director of civil aviation in Tunisia. On his return to mainland France, he became deputy then head of the telecoms office of the Air Navigation Division. He was appointed head of the technical air navigation service when it was created in 1961.From 1979 until his retirement in 1991, he was head of the aeronautical training and technical control department.

His contributions to the creation of civil aviation are extensively recounted in books in the Mémoire de l'Aviation Civile collection.
In 2008, he recounted his memories of Indochina in the book "Le temps des ingénieurs de la navigation aérienne, mémoires d'outre-mer (1945-1968)"
His contribution to the creation of the STNA is detailed in the book "Le temps des ingénieurs de la navigationaérienne, mémoires d'outre-mer (1945-1968)": "Le temps des ingénieurs de la navigation aérienne, mémoires techniques (1945-1985)"
He is also quoted extensively in "L'aviation civile, une administration dans Paris (1919-2009)".