Services

Aircraft Investigations 

Phil Powell has been directing the aircraft investigation team with Leading Edge Investigations since its inception. Leading Edge Investigations was formed in October of 2000 and since that time has successfully resolved thousands of cases throughout the United States. Prior to that, he had ten years of aviation claims experience and ten years of general claims adjusting experience prior to starting Leading Edge Investigations. His ability to work closely with insureds and third parties involving complex repair issues as well as repair shops makes him an excellent choice for your hull claims.

Phil has also investigated and adjusted many high profile, multi fatality incidents involving aircraft. He has an excellent working relationship with the NTSB and FAA field investigators. His ability to work closely with government agencies allows him to secure crucial information for underwriters which further allows the insurance company to analyze coverage early in the claims process.

Working closely with families, estates and their attorneys in accidents involving serious injuries or fatalities is critical in any serious accident investigation. Phil is able to establish open and honest relationships. Phil has always found that when you are open and honest with parties involved in catastrophic losses that you can often reach agreeable settlements without the need for prolonged litigation. Phil has been able to negotiate numerous fair and equitable settlements that may have otherwise resulted in substantially different outcomes.

Phil holds his Resident Adjuster License in Georgia with current non resident licenses in Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama. Tennessee doesn’t require a non resident adjuster license as do some other states in our normal service area. Numerous clients have asked us to go outside of our normal area on claims which we are glad to do so and we can secure temporary adjuster status for those locations to keep your company in compliance with local regulations.

Expert Division

The Expert Division for Leading Edge Investigations is headed up by R. Benjamin “Boats” Bartlett. I won’t go into excessive detail about Ben’s qualifications as a pilot and accident expert, as his CV is available for download on the link below. However, Ben is a uniquely qualified expert and we are very proud that he has chosen Leading Edge Investigations as a company he chooses to associate with.

Ben graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1976. He stayed in the Air Force until July, 2012, where he achieved the rank of Major General. Ben was one of the first Air Force pilots selected to fly the F 16. He has 4000 award winning and combat flight hours. He has commanded in combat. He served at U.S. Central Command where he was the Director of Exercise and Training. While in the Air Force and U.S. Central Command, he commanded and worked for some of the best of the best. He worked directly under commanders like General Martin Dempsey, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, David Petraeus and former CIA Director, James Mattis.

In addition to his sterling career in the United States Air Force, Ben also was a Captain with Delta Airlines from January of 1986 to November of 2018. He commanded and flew seven different commercial aircraft from the Boeing 727 to the Airbus 320 domestically as well as the 747 (200 and 400), the Boeing 777 and Airbus 330 internationally. He safely delivered thousands of passengers across five continents and recently retired as a Delta Airbus 330 Captain having flown over 13,000 incident free, civilian flying hours.

And if all that wasn’t enough, from September of 1984 to January of 1986, Ben worked as an analyst with Northrop Aircraft in Los Angeles, California. He worked on the F 20 fighter program as well as the YF-23 fighter prototype.

Ben and his wife, Joy, currently live in Alpharetta, Georgia. I think you will find that Ben’s qualifications speak for themselves. When you need someone that understands complex aircraft systems as well as complex flight environments, he has a way of explaining it that’s easy to understand.