RIP David Prewitt

David “Dave” Prewitt, a TapRooT® RCA pioneer, passed away on March 12, 2025. We didn’t find out about it until his wife let us know the sad news.

Dave introduced the use of TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis to improve Aviation Safety Management Systems throughout his extensive career, including its application for both reactive and proactive improvement at Alaska Airlines, Sikorsky Aircraft, Federal Express, Rotocraft Leasing, and AAR.

While a VP at Alaska Airlines, Dave introduced the Board of Directors to the use of TapRooT® RCA to improve aviation safety and organized a special board committee to review incidents and safety statistics.

He also spoke several times as a keynote speaker and in breakout sessions at the Global TapRooT® Summit.

Dave submitted the first-ever success story to System Improvements about their application of TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis at Alaska Airlines. The success story aired on World Business Review; you can see it HERE.