Risk Management Magazine

There I was, Chalk 2 in a formation of three UH-1s. We had just completed our mission and were returning to base. The formation was in echelon left and we were briefed to fly with two to five rotor discs of separation.

One of the last things you expect to encounter when on a landing approach is a funnel cloud. Yet, it happened to me in Kandahar, Afghanistan, in the winter of 2013 on an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance mission.

It was the beginning of another routine daytime mission. Get some gas and bullets and go fly around for four hours.