LANGHORNE BOND

1937 - 2022

BOND LANGHORNE BOND Langhorne McCook Bond, who led the Federal Aviation Administration during the Carter administration, preparing the agency with a detailed plan to manage the air traffic controllers' strike before Ronald Reagan took office, died January 29, 2022 at his home in Marshall, VA, after a long illness. He was 84. Mr. Bond, a pilot, was the son of an aviation family. His father William Langhorne Bond was an aviation pioneer who led the China National Aviation Corp. and opened air travel in China before the Second World War. It was during Mr. Bond's watch at the FAA that his interest in aviation safety widened and deepened to include other fields, including auto racing and equestrian events. Mr. Bond's tenure as head of the FAA lasted the length of Mr. Carter's presidency, from 1977 to 1981. He later served as president and chief executive officer of Shorts Aircraft USA and on the board of the subsidiary of Embraer Aircraft Corps. in Fort Lauderdale, FL, as well as several other state and educational transportation boards. At an Air Traffic Control Association meeting in 1996 he raised concerns about air safety and the global positioning system, saying that because GPS was designed as a military technology it could be jammed or shut down during a military crisis. With Robert and Ellen Lilley of the Loran Association, he advocated that this system be used as a backup to GPS because of its reliability and versatility; a modern version, e-Loran, has long been in use in Europe. With an interest in sports car racing, show riding and steeplechase, Mr. Bond also devoted time and effort to promoting the use of safer helmets in both fields. In Virginia he chaired the Warrenton Gold Cup International Steeplechase races for 12 years, gave away dozens of helmets to steeplechase riders who eventually adopted the helmets for their own safety. He also worked to get safer breakaway rails for fences and to champion protective vests for riders. Mr. Bond was born on March 11, 1937 in Shanghai, China, the elder of two sons of the senior Mr. Bond of Petersburg, Va., and Katherine Dunlop of Chevy Chase, MD. He graduated from Episcopal High School in Alexandria, VA, and attended the University of Virginia, receiving a BA in Philosophy in 1959 and an LLB in 1963. Between college and law school, Mr. Bond carried out his military service and became a member of the Virginia National Guard from 1959 to 1965. Mr. Bond began his career in 1965 as the special assistant to Alan S. Boyd, the federal undersecretary of commerce for transportation, and he became Mr. Boyd's chief assistant when Mr. Boyd became the first secretary of transportation in 1967. Mr. Bond was appointed assistant administrator of the urban Mass Transportation Administration before taking over as the executive director of the National Transportation Center in Pennsylvania in 1969. From Pennsylvania, Mr. Bond was recruited by Gov. Dan Walker to serve as secretary of transportation for the state of Illinois from 1973-1977. He moved with his family to Washington, D.C. when President Carter appointed him administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration. Mr. Bond is survived by his wife Enriqueta Carter Bond; a brother Thomas Dunlop Bond of Orange, VA; a son Langhorne Carter Bond and his partner Lori Smiley as well as a daughter Prescott Bond, all of Marshall, VA. Services will be held at Grace Episcopal Church in The Plains, VA at 2 p.m. on August 27. Memorial contributions can be made to Grace Episcopal Church or Foxcroft School.Mr. Bond is survived by his wife Enriqueta Carter Bond; a brother Thomas Dunlop Bond of Orange, VA; a son Langhorne Carter Bond and his partner Lori Smiley as well as a daughter Prescott Bond, all of Marshall, VA. Services will be held at Grace Episcopal Church in The Plains, VA at 2 p.m. on August 27. Memorial contributions can be made to Grace Episcopal Church or Foxcroft School.