Admiral Crowe, Retired Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff and Former U.S. Ambassador to the U.K., Named to Board of Kellstrom Industries.

SUNRISE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 9, 1999--Kellstrom Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: KELL) today announced that Admiral William J. Crowe, Jr., retired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, has agreed to join its Board of Directors.

Admiral Crowe, age 74, has had a long and distinguished military and diplomatic career. He served as the Assistant Naval Attache to President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Later, as Rear Admiral, he commanded U.S. Naval Forces in the Persian Gulf. In 1980, he was named Commander-in-Chief of Allied Forces in Southern Europe, the NATO command responsible for Italy, Turkey and Greece, as well as the Mediterranean area. He was later assigned the Commander of U.S. Pacific Command. In 1985, President Reagan named Admiral Crowe the 11th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a position he held until 1989.

After retirement from the military in 1989, Admiral Crowe was a Counselor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington and a Professor of Geopolitics at the University of Oklahoma. He served as Chairman of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board from 1993 to 1994. From 1994 to 1997, Admiral Crowe served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. Last September, Secretary of State Albright swore in Admiral Crowe as Chairman of two Accountability Review Boards charged with the investigations of the bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Admiral Crowe graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1946 and later obtained an M.A. in education from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in politics from Princeton University. His dissertation at Princeton was entitled The Political Roots of the Modern Royal Navy. Admiral Crowe has written numerous articles on military and foreign policy issues and is co-author of The Line of Fire and Reducing Nuclear Danger: The Road Away from the Brink.

In addition to his present seat on Kellstrom's Board of Directors, Admiral Crowe has served on the Boards of Merrill Lynch, Texaco, General Dynamics, Norfolk & Southern and Pfizer. Admiral Crowe will replace John Gleason, who has stepped down from the Board and will devote his full time and attention to his operational management role in KellCad and his position as Executive Vice President of Kellstrom.

Yoav Stern, Chairman of the Board and Zivi R. Nedivi, President and Chief Executive Officer of Kellstrom Industries, stated, "We are indeed fortunate to have a person of Admiral Crowe's stature and experience on our Board. His background and relationships should prove invaluable as Kellstrom expands its business horizons into the aerospace/defense arena. We hold Admiral Crowe in exceptionally high esteem as a dynamic and proven leader in multi-disciplinary environments and organizations. On behalf of our fellow Board members, we welcome him to the Kellstrom team."

Kellstrom Industries, Inc. is a leader in the airborne equipment segments of the international aviation services after-market. Kellstrom's principal business is the purchasing, overhauling (through subcontractors), reselling and leasing of aircraft, avionics and aircraft rotables, and engines and engine parts. The Company is also a leading international after-market reseller of turbo-jet engines and turbo-jet engine parts for helicopters and large cargo transport aircraft. The Company specializes in providing engines and parts for large turbo-fan engines manufactured by CFMI, General Electric, Pratt & Whitney and Rolls Royce. The Company is an approved supplier to an international customer base including major domestic and international airlines, original equipment manufacturers and engine overhaul shops.

The Company, from time to time, may discuss forward-looking information. This press release contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on many assumptions and factors, and are subject to many conditions, including the Company's continuing ability to effectively integrate the acquired companies, acquire adequate inventory and to obtain favorable pricing for such inventory, the ability to arrange for the repair of aircraft engines by third-party contractors prior to resale or lease, competitive pricing for the Company's products, customer concentration, demand for the Company's products which depends upon the condition of the airline industry, ability to collect receivables, government regulation, and the effects of increased indebtedness as a result of the Company's business acquisitions. Except for the historical information contained in this release, all forward-looking information are estimates by the Company's management and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that may be beyond the Company's control and may cause results to differ from management's current expectations.