Risk Management Magazine

Shortly after graduating flight school, I was tasked with assisting in ferrying two of our OH-58As from Nebraska to Fort Rucker, Ala. I was excited by the prospect of a cross-country flight with a pilot in command who was not an instructor pilot.

Ask any Soldier that has been deployed about the inherent stresses caused by the theater of war and you will surely hear the near-miss and there-I-was stories. The multitude of things that can go wrong during any deployment cause a state of constant and heightened situational awareness. 

As I continued my cross-check to outside the aircraft, I turned to look at the pilot in the right seat. I was shocked when I noticed a dark shape floating immediately above and to the right of his helmet. We were not alone in this little patch of sky.