Approach articles from March 2004

Approach archives from March 2004

Culture workshops.(Work zone: reducing mishaps by 50%)
March 1, 2004... In 1996, following a string of high-visibility mishaps, the naval aviation Human Factors Quality Management Board (HFQMB) was chartered and tasked with reducing the number of human-factor flight mishaps by 50 percent before the turn of the...

Continual Improvement.(Toward the goal ...: reducing mishaps by 50%)
March 1, 2004... As we reflect on our aviation-safety posture, there are many positives, but there also is room for improvement. Based on surveys, culture workshops, and other interactions with fleet squadrons, the Safety Center aviation investigators and...

Mishap-free milestones.
March 1, 2004... HMM-265 15 years 60,000 hours HSL-45 14 years 95,000 hours VFA-195 21 years 90,000 hours HC-11 12 years 100,000 hours VFA-22 8 years VP-46 40 years 280,000 hours VRC-30 28 years 175,000 hours

The Columbia mishap: an interview with RDML Steve Turcotte: RDML Turcotte commanded the Naval Safety Center until August 2003. He was a member of the NASA Columbia Accident Investigation Board, and currently is Commander, Naval Region Mid-Atlantic .
March 1, 2004... How did you become a member of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board? After the Challenger accident [on January 28, 1986], a standing investigation board was created, replicating the Navy's squadron mishap-investigation-board process....

Calm before the storm.(Crew resource management: decision making)
March 1, 2004... I launched on a warm, starry night on a SAREX, with my squadron maintenance officer and one of our more senior AWs. We took our time flying down the St. Johns River, through Jacksonville, enjoying the city lights along the way. After clearing...

A close call at 300 feet.
March 1, 2004... It was a beautiful summer day, and our P-3 crew was scheduled for a 0730 brief, a 0800 preflight, and a 1000 takeoff. I was giving a squadron flight engineer a proficiency flight, and the XO was giving a patrol-plane-commander check flight to...

What did paddles say?
March 1, 2004... My trusty S-3B was rolling in the groove behind USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71). The weather was not good, and the carrier was headed into a thunderstorm. Winds pushed 40 knots, and the deck was moving moderately. My COTAC called the ball,...

Can you hear me now? The importance of reporting radio-communication problems.
March 1, 2004... The TV show "20/20" recently did a piece on bystander apathy--a sociological phenomenon that occurs when a group of people knows something's wrong, but all stand by and do nothing because they think someone else is fixing it. The question for...

Bravo zulu.
March 1, 2004... While climbing during day VFR pattern work at NAF Atsugi, Japan, Lt. Oliver Stormer, the pilot at the controls, felt the port power lever vibrate and the aircraft swerve to the left. The copilot and aircraft commander, LCdr. Paul Crump, saw the...

I've lost my RIO: though this flight was my first without a qualified radar-intercept officer (RIO) in the back seat, I had flown with a number of aviators who had very little Tomcat experience.
March 1, 2004... My squadron and air wing were detached to NAS Fallon, Nevada, for strike training. Most of us attended lectures all day, but I was tasked with giving the battle-group-air-warfare commander an orientation flight in the F-14D. As skipper of the...

Survival at sea: a 15-minute flight becomes an incredible survival story: are you prepared for a seven-hour swim in 59-degree water?(ORM Corner)
March 1, 2004... The Coast Guard puts the life expectancy for Swimming in 59-degree-Fahrenheit water at less than two hours. It's called hypothermia: Abnormally low body temperature, with slowing of physiologic activity. Recently, I was asked to create a...

No-brainer.
March 1, 2004... I was the lead of a section of Hornets on another Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) mission. Since the "end of major conflict," the shooting had all but stopped for fixed-wing aircraft. We had provided "presence" on most missions, and, as a result,...

Command safety climate assessment: survey process.(Update of the Online)
March 1, 2004... Background Approach magazine published the article "Taking the 'Safety Pulse' of Your Squadron," in the March 2002 issue. That article introduced naval aviation to the Command Safety Climate Assessment (CSCA) survey process--a web-based...

One day at a CVX planning conference ... (Brownshoes In Action Comix).(Comic)
March 1, 2004... It needs enhanced power projection capabilities from the Littorals... It should have network-centric architecture... It demzands multi-role flexibility... It must capitalize on technology to reduce manpower requirements .. ...