Approach articles from September 2004

Approach archives from September 2004

Admiral's corner.
September 1, 2004... How are you helping to reduce mishaps? While the Safety Center aims to make the Navywide working environment as safe as possible, the important person contributing to mishap-reduction is you! Everyone owns safety. When I talk to Sailors and...

Mishap Flotsam and Jetsam: tidbits of gouge from the Safety Center investigators.(Work zone: reducing mishaps by 50%)
September 1, 2004... After participating in nearly 40 Class A and B mishap investigations the last couple years, the Safety Center investigators remain impressed with the overall performance of aircraft mishap boards (AMBs), and we see no problem in the overall AMB...

Bird on a wire--almost.
September 1, 2004... "Sir! Break left! We're going to hit the tower!" With those words, I knew I only had one choice to make: Compound the emergency. Creating a second problem was my only solution to the first one. As a familiarization instructor at HT-8,...

Taking a dip.(naval aviation safety)
September 1, 2004... Goal: To increase awareness of fatigue risks, specifically as they relate to night carrier ops among naval aviators. Summary: Night cat shot, S-3B pilot did not sufficiently rotate aircraft, aircraft settled off deck, flew about 20 feet off...

Blowing sand in the Arabian Gulf.
September 1, 2004... Almost four months into deployment, we hadn't yet hit "hump day." Our flight-deck crew had been working nonstop in support of real-world operations and day-night training evolutions. The flight-deck crew was operating at optimum proficiency and...

Bow-on recovery.(Crew Resource Management)
September 1, 2004... As a nugget pilot on the second month of cruise, I finally spared some brain power for something other than taking off and landing on the ship at night. We were settling into a routine of mostly night operations in the Arabian Sea aboard USS...

Mother Nature's AAA: the lighting again picked up, and soon we were rocked with hail.(ORM Corner)(operational risk management, anti-aircraft artillery)
September 1, 2004... During tactical training, we're taught about the combat losses we've suffered as a result of anti-aircraft artillery (AAA). We're shown graphs and statistics that outline how AAA, despite being low tech, has posed a significant threat to...

Live strong, ride safely.(cycling)
September 1, 2004... This year, millions of Americans tuned their televisions to the Tour de France to watch Lance Armstrong race to his sixth victory in this century-old event. Whether he was charging up the Alps or rocketing along on a solo time trial, Lance's...

Don't ever miss your fifth wedding anniversary.
September 1, 2004... It was Feb. 20, and I was spending my fifth wedding anniversary as a geo-bachelor forward deployed in Japan. My pregnant wife was in Monterey, Calif. Sound familiar? I was a department head in a squadron that just had completed day and...

Inches from disaster.
September 1, 2004... As an aviator, I've been taught ways to avoid a near-miss while flying. Thankfully, I have yet to experience anything close to a near-miss in my short career, and, if I'm careful and smart enough, I never will. When it comes to near-misses...

Bravo zulu.(landing aircraft safely)
September 1, 2004... The crew of Night Owl 01 conducted an initial night-landing qualification of the RQ-2B unmanned aerial vehicle AV). The flight followed a day-night reconnaissance event at MCAS Cherry Point. Sgt. Jarad Demster (external...

Crash victim thankful for PPE: I flew about 15 feet in the air and landed "like a rag doll.".(Personal Protective Equipment )
September 1, 2004... With dinner and a movie behind us, wife and I had started home on our motorcycles. We both were in the right-hand lane of an access road to an interstate, riding in a stagger formation. I was in the right-hand part of the lane, and my wife was...

Mishap-free milestones.(Illustration)
September 1, 2004... VAW-117 27 years 57,100 hours VP-30 40 years 400,000 hours VP-16 39 years 257,000 hours VAQ-130 23 years 39,045 hours VR-57 25.5 years 130,075 hours VFA-136 11 years ...

Letter to the editor.(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... The May-June 2004 edition included a picture (pages 1 and 16) of a pilot flying an H-60 with his flight-suit sleeve rolled up and not wearing gloves. With decreasing numbers of inflight fires or explosions, I realize this habit may have taken...