Massey Aviation graduates fly high in Airbus A380

Captain David Beardsmore, a graduate from cohort Massey 1 (1987), and First Officer San San Tan, a graduate from cohort Massey 54 (2012) were the pilots of an Airbus A380 carrying 600 passengers safely to their destination.

Following his graduation, David Beardsmore worked as a flight instructor at Massey University’s School of Aviation for a brief period before moving to Zimbabwe to fly for a charter company based in Harare. He joined the Massey University Garuda Indonesian Airlines internship programme to qualify and fly as a First Officer on B737-300/400 from 1994 to 1996, later piloting B737-200 aircraft for Air New Zealand.

Mr Beardsmore moved to an international airline in 2003, flying Airbus A330/340 aircraft, and upgraded to Captain in 2007 before transferring to the A380 fleet in 2012. He also completed a Master of Aviation at Massey University’s School of Aviation in 2022.

After graduating with the Bachelor of Aviation ATP, San San Tan returned home to Malaysia and flew with Air Asia as an Airbus A320 First Officer from 2015 until 2023. She is currently a First Officer on Airbus A380 aircraft with an international airline company.

School of Aviation Chief Executive Officer Ashok Poduval says the different aviation paths of these successful Massey graduates, and the fact they met in the cockpit of an A380 aircraft, is a testament to the quality and standard of aviation education and training offered at Te Kura Rererangi School of Aviation.