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Identifying fall hazards isn’t always easy because appearances can be deceiving, often affected by our own perceptions. For example, if you’re 6 feet tall, you’re taller than a 4-foot-high platform, which makes it easy to assume the platform isn’t a fall hazard. On the other hand, if you’re standing on that platform, you are now looking down from a height of 10 feet. If you fall, even from 4 feet, you could be seriously injured.
I was driving my usual route. Since I didn’t have physical training that morning, my commute was during daylight hours, which I figured would be much safer. I had no idea what danger lay ahead.
On the way down, I reached up and grabbed onto my little yellow handholds in the crew window. Before anyone could say anything, we were on the ground. The aircraft came down and forward for a short distance, then made a rapid turn to the left.
As an outdoor enthusiast, I spent a lot of my free time enjoying the ocean’s beauty, above and beneath the endless emerald-blue waves. Little did I know I would soon face death more closely than I could have ever imagined.
A seat belt is the most critical piece of equipment to prevent injuries or death in the event of a vehicle accident, yet it is also the most overlooked. I have worked on this installation for more than a decade and can attest to the attitude and negligence toward seat belt usage.
As an aviator, I focus strongly on completing my mission. However, I can never become so focused on one task that I let slip the other things necessary to completing the mission safely. When the mission ends, I want to climb out of an aircraft — not be dragged from its wreckage.