MY 2 CENTS
controls on the cyclic, improperly seated, spilled out onto the tarmac. Contrary to management’s assessment of my emergency, I had indeed experienced a cyclic hard-over caused by the improperly installed retaining pins by our helicopter mechanic.
“In a company and hospital meeting to examine the event, it was discovered that the mechanic had worked for six straight weeks (42 days) without a day off or relief. In that meeting I was told by company management to keep quiet about the incident; the implication was that I’d lose my job if I didn’t. I told them that unless another mechanic was hired to share the workload, I would go to the news media and tell my story. Another mechanic was immediately employed by the company. When the meeting ended, the boss of the company took me aside congratulating me on a job well done saying he was going to give me a raise.”
There are several CRM Lessons in Bill’s story: (1) The company culture of working a mechanic to the point of exhaustion caused him to
overlook installing the
pins properly, setting up the emergency. (2) Bill’s resourcefulness to ask the flight nurse to lend a hand helped him fight against 800 PSI of hydraulic pressure on the cyclic that was trying to invert the helicopter. (3) Bill’s piloting skills and knowledge of the aircraft systems also proved to help save the day.
Bill and I are Vietnam veterans. He said that looking back on his decades-long career, this incident was the closest he came to losing his life. A strong statement indeed.
Randy Mains is an author, public speaker, and AMRM consultant who works in the helicopter industry after a long career of aviation adventure. He currently serves as chief CRM/AMRM instructor for Oregon Aero.
He may be contacted at:
info@randymains.com
rotorcraftpro.com
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