Approach articles from May 2008

Approach archives from May 2008

What danger? Our brains weren't made to go much faster than a run, and we don't want to handle all the sensory information that comes from flight, plus all the other decisions.
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Complacency often is defined as a state of perceived well-being or satisfaction without being aware of actual dangers or deficiencies. To preserve brain energy, we have shortcuts or mechanisms that take some of the...

Our biggest threat.(complacency in naval aviation)
May 1, 2008... How does complacency fit in with naval aviation? Not very well, but it's with us on every sortie or maintenance evolution, whether you want to acknowledge it or not. Although complacency is not as clearly understood as, say, hypoxia or...

VT-9.(Bravo Zulu)(Joel Gow and Rich Prescott of Strike Training Squadron Nine)
May 1, 2008... Ltjg. Joel Gow and Ltjg. Rich Prescott of Strike Training Squadron Nine were on an early fam stage, training-syllabus flight. Their T-45C Goshawk ingested a large bird shortly after takeoff from runway 1R at NAS Meridian, Miss. Passing...

Don't drop it.(flight training)
May 1, 2008... I was a new H2P, assigned to HSC-23's first sea-going detachment aboard USNS Bridge (T-AOE 10). Our seven-month vertrep (vertical replenishment) and logistics cruise supported the carrier battle group. After a little more than a month at sea, I...

Exit stage left: my team watched as the Hornet's hook missed the wires by inches, touched the deck about 10 yards beyond the 4-wire, afterburners charring the landing area.
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] If you've ever been around carrier aviation, then you've probably had the "privilege" of interacting with an LSO. Sure, most times we are the givers of grades and the nit-pickers of what most pilots thought was a...

Flying high.
May 1, 2008... The flight started out like every other flight at Bagram. We were two months into deployment in support of OEF, and our crew had settled into a good routine. Our early morning brief discussed using NVDs, because the first part of the flight...

No place like homeguard.
May 1, 2008... The "detachment" philosophy has been an integral part of SH-60B Seahawk operations for more than 20 years. The detachment goes to sea to fight the war, while the rest of the squadron stays behind at homeguard to train and prepare for future...

Complacency hit list.(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... When will complacency get you? Here's a sampling of situations where the "vulture" may strike. Do any of these sound familiar? The mission is complete, and you're "just going back to the boat." You're scheduled for a routine mission,...

To teach a dinosaur.
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Fly the airplane Silence the bell. Confirm the emergency. These memory items should be familiar to everyone who flies most large aircraft. It was Presidents' Day, and for most Navy folk in...

Left to left.(aicraft piloting)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The crisp October air and clear blue sky promised to make a great day of flying out of NAF El Centro, Calif. I was a senior ECMO instructor with the EA-6B FRS and was scheduled to fly a Saturday morning low-level...

2 Engines down--none to go.
May 1, 2008... I was flying my first sortie of our fall deployment. My lead and I were assigned to work with a Prowler and one of the carrier-strike-group (CSG) ships. Shortly after our section joined overhead mom (the carrier), we headed to our...

Complacency.(bad effects of satisfaction on aviation safety measures)
May 1, 2008... Of the many threats to a successful safety program, one of the most common and persistent is complacency. Complacency in itself is a deceiving and unwarranted satisfaction with a given level of proficiency which leads to stagnation and...

Complacency--symptoms and cure.(Reprint)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... For transport commands which may on occasion experience a rather frustrating display of over-complacency on the part of flight crews, the following observation, from the Flight Safety Foundation's Accident Prevention Bulletin No. 55-10, may...

The magical rubber stamp.(complacency and aircraft emergency)(Personal account)
May 1, 2008... Every four years, naval aviators, flight officers, and aircrewmen have the distinct pleasure of attending naval aviation survival training and physiology (aka "swim-phys"). A few things may have changed in the curriculum since the last time you...

Understand the process.(ORM Corner)(risk management)
May 1, 2008... A year ago the Naval Safety Center published a magazine called ORM, the Essentials. In it we outlined where we want ORM to be in our Navy culture. We stated, "We want everyone to understand risk management. We want them to know how to apply the...