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Aviators need to be willing and able to deviate from any plan when conditions change. My unit conducted a thorough after-action review to discuss the mission and what my pilot and I jokingly referred to as our “traumatic training event.”
“Go-around! Go-around! Go-around!” Those were the words we wished we heard before our stabilator struck the ground. This mishap could have been prevented, and we’re lucky it didn’t cause severe damage to the aircraft or injuries to the crew.
Suddenly, the FLA’s right-front end collapsed and the wheel disconnected from the hub assembly. The vehicle barreled through the wire fencing on the roadside at about 35 mph and skidded nearly 200 meters before coming to a stop.
With spring just around the corner, I recently began thinking about what outside work projects I need to get done around my house. I then thought back to a mishap I had several years ago when I fell from a ladder.
Not all on-duty mishaps occur in tactical vehicles or aircraft. The things Soldiers do during downtime can just as easily affect mission readiness.
During one deployment, I was part of an aircrew that, upon landing, discovered an open and damaged engine nacelle. My first reaction was how the nacelle latch could fail in flight because I always check them during my walk-around. I asked myself, “I did check them this time, right?”