Les Berven, 59; Tested Boeing Airliners for FAA
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Les Berven, 59, a test pilot for the Federal Aviation Administration who flew every Boeing model since the late 1970s, died Dec. 14 in Seattle of complications from heart surgery.
Berven served as chief test pilot for the FAA’s Northwest Mountain region for more than 20 years before retiring in August.
He was especially adept at stall tests, piloting a jet at the slowest possible speed until it stopped flying and started falling.
He once performed 54 stalls in one day while testing a 777 in the mid-1990s.
Another typical test involved loading a commercial jet to its maximum weight, accelerating down a runway at 200 mph and then slamming on the brakes just to see what happened.
