Approach articles from March 2005

Approach archives from March 2005

COs: you can prevent that "knock on the door".(Admiral's Corner)
March 1, 2005... After countless portrayals on TV and in the movies, the scene is too well-known: A military vehicle stops in front of a home. One or two uniformed officers get out, walk somberly to the door, then knock or ring the doorbell. A mother, father,...

Work zone: reducing mishaps by 50%.
March 1, 2005... How does a hazard or mishap recommendation (hazrec, misrec) work its way from the initial report, through the endorsing chain, to NavAir? The process begins with your identification of fleet hazards. The Naval Aviation Safety Program...

Just another day at work.
March 1, 2005... It was just another hot and humid June day in the Arabian Gulf, and we were deployed on the new DDG Flight IIA with an East Coast HSL detachment. My crew and I came together at 1215 in the helo-control tower to brief. The flight was scheduled...

Spatial D spinning.
March 1, 2005... Finally, I was an SH-60B helicopter-aircraft Commander-at-sea. After spending eight months at homeguard in various ground jobs, I had been given the opportunity to excel on the ship. A light haze of snow was on the flight deck as we cruised...

A nearly horrible disaster.(Column)
March 1, 2005... One summer during college, I worked as a promotions supervisor for a large sports-drink company. My job primarily entailed showing up at major sporting events around the city and setting up big, inflatable games for children to play on while...

Offroad incident.
March 1, 2005... There I stood, all proud of myself, having just completed my first solo in the mighty Buckeye. I was king of the world, or at least NAS Pensacola, where I was a student at VT-4. All of the instructor pilots were excited, as well, because...

An eventful trip home.(Column)
March 1, 2005... My most memorable car ride took place one Sunday afternoon on a lonely stretch of I-10. I was returning from my parents' house in Tallahassee, Fla., to Pensacola, where I was stationed at Sherman Field. I had been on the road about an hour when...

Operational risk management: does your squadron try to minimize risk? Here's a worksheet VP-10 Sailors fill our before going on leave/liberty.
March 1, 2005... VP-10 LEAVE/LIBERTY RISK ASSESSMENT WORKSHEET NAME: WORKCENTER/DEPT: Effective Risk Assessment requires the identification of risk-taking behaviors. This worksheet will give you a chance to think about your upcoming leave/liberty...

Skid row in Houston.
March 1, 2005... I've had several interesting and unforgettable experiences in the great, and somewhat "peculiar," state of Texas, while working my way through training en route to the fleet. But few experiences can rival the one that involved a beat-up TH-57...

Naval Safety Center accomplishments.
March 1, 2005... 2004 Victories [check] ORM and High Risk Training OPNAV directives released December 04 [check] First Flag notification requirements for Class A mishaps [check] Traffic Safety Across America--Road show and CD produced/distributed...

Size does matter.(Column)
March 1, 2005... One thing I've learned in my short naval-aviation career is that asking questions, even if you think they are dumb, may save your life. I was fortunate to join my squadron in the early stages of our work-up cycle and ease my way from the FRS...

Not your average IQ.
March 1, 2005... After two years of instructor duty in VFA-106, I was ready to get back into operational flying. I just had received orders to the CVW-5 staff as the strike-operations officer. Because I hadn't been to the boat in over two years, I would join a...

Did you preflight, Sir?
March 1, 2005... I've seen many things in my 10 years in the Navy. I've been on four cruises and seen much of what the world has to offer. While at my last command, I had seen that planes sometimes have problems that defy gravity. I've also seen pilots get...

Bravo Zulu.(Column)
March 1, 2005... A crew Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 461 were preparing to fly a long-range external transport of an M998/HMMWV from the Horn of Africa. Capt. Jennifer Grieves, the CH-53E aircraft commander, and Sgt. Joseph White, the crew chief, were...

Crew resource management: what if.
March 1, 2005... Our crew had been operating for a month out of the Manta, Ecuador, forward operating location (FOL). Our missions were in support of Operations Dolphin Archer and Caper Focus. Our day began with a 0900 preflight for a five-hour reposition...