During September 2010, a routine training mission of an MH-60S from our U.S. Navy Air Ambulance Detachment (NAAD) required a precautionary landing due to a main module chip light. Following the successful precautionary landing, the decision was made to use the General Support Aviation Battalion (GSAB) Downed Aircraft Recovery Team (DART) and the NAAD maintenance teams to recover the aircraft via flatbed.
Immediately, detailed planning sessions and rehearsals were conducted to ensure a safe execution. Both the brigade and battalion safety officers were involved and composite risk management was incorporated into every phase of the process. Coordination between the NAAD and the GSAB went extremely well at all levels of planning and execution. Not surprisingly, the GSAB DART, which had successfully recovered aircraft in the past, leveraged their past successes to execute this mission in the austere desert conditions of our operational environment.
On the day of the operation, the two units worked seamlessly as one, the timeline was adhered to and safety remained a priority throughout the entire operation. I was onsite as the task force safety officer and watched as Sailors and Soldiers worked in perfect unison while climbing in, on and around the aircraft, removing blades, hoisting and chocking the aircraft onto a flatbed and then moving it back to base. The most glaring difference I noticed throughout the day was the Navy's personal protective equipment (PPE) and their mechanics strict adherence to wearing it - specifically the FDC headgear donned by every Sailor. I remember thinking, "Why don't our people wear those'"
For all intents and purposes, the story should end happily at this point. But there's more.
The next morning, after a successful aircraft recovery, the helicopter was in the hangar being repaired by the NAAD mechanics. A Sailor was on top of the aircraft disassembling components on the rotor head. As he was pulling down on a torque wrench attempting to break the seal on a bolt, the bolt unexpectedly snapped loose. The mechanic lost his balance and fell backward from the top of the aircraft, landing on the back of his head on a cement floor. This occurred right outside of my office so I ran out expecting to see the worst.
When I got to where the Sailor was lying, he was wide awake, not bleeding and could move his fingers and toes. His FDC was still intact and strapped to his head when the ambulance took him away. What's equally amazing is he returned to duty two days after an accident that might have killed or at least seriously injured him had he not been wearing an FDC. So, for the second time in two days, I asked myself, "Why don't our people wear those'"
For several decades, the Navy has required all aircraft handlers and maintainers working in, on and around military aircraft while shipboard or ashore to wear the FDC. The current FDC provides improved capabilities in hearing protection, speech intelligibility and impact protection as well as a stable mounting platform for the use of night vision devices (NVDs).
After the incident in the hangar, task force leadership and safety officers decided our Soldiers would wear FDCs when working on aircraft. Their use will be incorporated in to our Battalion standard operating procedure. Again, if this single safety device can prevent injuries or save lives, then why are Soldiers not issued or required to wear FDCs while working on the top of our aircraft' Fortunately, because leadership required this Sailor to wear an FDC, he only suffered minor injuries and a few lost days of work.
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