Risk Management Magazine

The observation of Fire Prevention Week, which this year runs Oct. 8 through 14, provides an opportune time to emphasize the importance of people knowing how to protect themselves and their co-workers should a fire happen.

There I was, standing just inside the glass doors of the Myrtle Beach (South Carolina) International Airport Fixed Base Operations (FBO) and watching the monsoon-like winds building quickly from out of nowhere. The rain was coming down so hard it was getting difficult to see my twin-engine turboprop-powered C-26E transport parked on the line just 50 yards away. I watched in horror as my airplane started to move, as if it had come alive on its own. But let me back up to how I got to this point.

When our first palletized load system (PLS) showed up, the driver dropped off a CONEX next to us. A second PLS then showed up and, while we were outside taking a break, we could hear it backing up. Suddenly, we heard Soldiers yelling for the PLS to stop. My only thought was, “This can’t be good.”