Daniel Mackenzie

Daniel Mackenzie is an FAA Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE) based in Prescott, Arizona, operating under the Scottsdale Flight Standards District Office. Because his certifications and authorizations are restricted to the helicopter category, he is a rotorcraft-only examiner and does not conduct airplane checkrides. Mackenzie holds Private, Commercial, Flight Instructor (CFI), Instrument, and Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificates. His examining authority covers Private Pilot and Flight Instructor certificates for rotorcraft, and he is SFAR 73 qualified to conduct practical tests in Robinson R-22 and R-44 helicopters. Mackenzie has given over 10,000 hours of flight instruction. He graduated from the Universal Helicopters (UHI) professional pilot program around 2001 and went on to serve as flight instructor, Assistant Chief Instructor, and eventually Chief Instructor and Chief Pilot. In 2008, he moved to Prescott to open UHI's High Altitude training center and direct its Center of Excellence. Under his leadership, UHI secured a contract in 2010 to provide helicopter flight instruction for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's Prescott campus, where Mackenzie served as Chief Pilot of the flight line. In March 2019, he became the Chief Operating Officer of Universal Flight Concepts. His safety record includes management participation in a ten-year accident-free milestone at UHI through 2014 and serving as an official party representative in a 2015 NTSB investigation.