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Now I know

  • Published
  • By Capt Adam "Shag" Neil
  • 16th Airborne Command and Control Squadron
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  Note:  Long before the Air Force Safety Center stood up at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., on Jan. 1, 1996, Airmen were sharing their lessons learned in a variety of safety publications such as Aerospace Safety, Aerospace Maintenance Safety, Air Force Driver, among others.  During a year-long commemoration of the safety center's 20th anniversary, the Public Affairs Office will highlight previously-published articles and reprise historic Rex Riley cartoons to emphasize that long-standing safety practices and lessons learned remain relevant to the mishap prevention program of today's Air Force.

To prevent future accidents, we should look at the mistakes of the past. The following is an excerpt from an article written in the Flying Safety Journal circa 1946. The article was written by a young adventurous WWII pilot, whom I'm proud to call Grandpa, about a mishap that happened early in his Air Force career.

"... Can't recall a sorrier day of my young life than that day when I should have graduated from the cadets. Instead, I was sweating, and, brother, I mean sweating ... for an act done without thought.

"We reached the end of our training, all our time was logged, but the instructor decided to send us up for practice on the last flying day before the Great Day. I remember him saying, as he assigned us ships, "It won't hurt to get this extra time. Do some solo acrobatics, but don't do anything foolish.

"Believe me; foolish stunts were furthest from my mind as I took off in the AT-6. However, I was the third of three ships that took off in quick succession which wound up in formation as we circled the field for altitude. That formation was the freezer that chilled two hot fliers.

"Had the guy in the lead plane been content to fly straight and level, I might have received commendation that day rather than condemnation.

But he started in with the fancy stuff and sheep that we were, we followed. After all, we were about to be winged.

"And winged we were. Executing a squirrel-cage, the leader's plane came from my left and slightly above me. I shoved rudder and stick full right. It wasn't enough. My props chopped through his tail with a jar that rattled my teeth. I had 4,000 feet, but lost some of it trying to get the plane to respond to the controls. There was no response, so over the side I went. The other cadet had also jumped, a fact I learned several hours later. Both of us still shudder at the thought of the consequences had either of us gone down with his ship. We were lucky, make no mistake about it."

Then he was told to go and fly and do some solo acrobatics, yet here he was, aircraft destroyed, career in jeopardy, and simply lucky to be alive. Unfortunately, he's not the only one in the last 65 years that had to learn a lesson the hard way. This is a simple case where following simple orders/rules could have prevented an accident, yet a few pilots felt they knew better, and disaster followed.

The other portion of his story details the importance of his training and equipment and how you never know when you will need both.
"I learned other things besides the necessity of obeying orders that day. Important things about the parachute; I respect that sack of silk and handle it with special care. No more do I throw the chute in and out of the plane, nor do I expose it to anything that might damage it, like oil, grease and water. My chute is repacked every 60 days, with at least five inspections between repacks.
"And I was taught plenty about jumping. I went out head first, and I remember I had to use quite a bit of push to get out of the cockpit. While free falling, I was watching the clearance from the plane when I made the pass at the rip-cord. I missed it.

"I absorbed that bit of education before the next second was clocked off. Not only did I look at the ring before reaching the second time, but I also made sure I had a firm grip on it before yanking. When I saw that white sail fat with air above me, it was the most wonderful sight my eyes have ever seen.

"Within a week, I learned many things: the split-second horror of a midair collision, the serene descent by parachute, the humility of standing accused before a court-martial board, and the shock of being judged guilty. And I was taught the feel of defeat when I was denied my wings at the time my classmates received theirs.

"In the long days of waiting and waiting for the restriction period to end, I vowed to do everything according to the rules, so that if anything did happen, I'd be in the clear. You know, they can take the wings from you, just as they can strip you of your commission."

Pass on "hard-earned" knowledge by dropping by your safety office and informing your flight safety officer, so he/she can properly document the incident. Or, volunteer to brief your fellow flyers at the next safety meeting and start a dialog with your fellow pilots. You may prevent a similar accident or highlight, or discover that there may be a local issue that has potential to cause harm to fellow flyers.

Now fortunately my grandfather went on with these lessons learned and enjoyed a distinguished flying career both through WWII and Korea. But these lessons learned should be learned through stories like this, instead of creating similar "there I was" stories. Mistakes are always better learned through others; however, if you do make a mistake, pass on that knowledge to prevent future mishaps. (Reprinted from Flying Safety Magazine, October 2007)