Risk Management Magazine

Mishap investigations rarely uncover new contributing failures. Nearly every mishap is the result of a combination of the same errors that contributed to a previous mishap.

We’ve all been there — that “will-I-make-it” moment. If you’re lucky enough to have avoided that experience, then you’ve heard it from the mouths of others — probably accompanied with a few nervous chuckles. For most, it’s the first time, and hopefully last, as well as a valuable learning point.

It was the last month of our deployment and things were pretty routine. My back-seater and I were sitting in our Apache on Mustang ramp in Kandahar, Afghanistan, preparing for an air assault. We were on the auxiliary power unit, ensuring all our systems were functioning, when something caught my eye.