Risk Management Magazine

Let’s face it, we aviators — especially helicopter pilots — are an egotistical breed. It’s no secret that we have Type-A personalities, but we have to in order to complete the dangerous and complex missions required of us. Sometimes, however, our egos and it-won’t-happen-to-me attitudes can lead us to trouble.

It was a clear, crisp day in New Hampshire’s White Mountains as we flew visual flight rules in our UH-60A. The pilot in command (PC) and I had departed the Army National Guard Concord Army Aviation Support Facility for some mountain training. The winds were light enough that we practiced mountain approaches to the helipad atop Mount Washington, not far from an observatory.

As evening approached, the crews were preparing for their night vision goggle (NVG) training mission. The task was to conduct readiness level (RL) progression for hoist operations. As the crew adjusted their NVGs and cranked the UH-60, they had no idea a routine litter hoist training mission would result in something much more.