Risk Management Magazine

As an aviation safety officer at Kandahar Air Base assigned to Task Force Out Front, I was a pilot in command (PC) and air mission commander (AMC) and flew more than 150 combat missions responding to numerous troops-in-contact calls in Kandahar province. During my deployment, we had a mid-air collision with an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) because communication and tracking of UASs between ground units within the same brigade was ineffective. Here’s what happened.

“Two to fly. Systems, you good in the back?” As a junior aviator, statements like this were commonplace in my cockpit but never resulted in an incident or mishap. As a unit trainer, I taught this technique without reprisal or correction from my seniors. As a student at the instructor pilot (IP) course, however, I said it for the last time. Here’s what happened.

Ask any pilot or crewmember what their biggest hazard to flight would be, and you could expect a few different answers; birds, other aircraft, or weather. What about wires? Pilots and crewmembers are taught the hazards to terrain flight during primary and tactical training.