Close Calls

[A4sForever]

Yes. Dennis Beaver was a great TAR/RIO. They had an engine fire on T/O and had to eject just south of I-35, I believe. Both were fine & handled the situation in the only reasonable manner available, I believe.

ACTUALLY ... 'WALDO' was kinda' fucked up w/ his back ... it bothered him for years ... I visited him 2 times while he was in Baylor ... he later went on to a very, very satisfactory airline career ... I 'worked' w/ him and gave him a couple of check-rides @ the airline .... WALDO was a good man.

Beaver, however, gave me max-shit when I saw him @ NUW during my last year of USNR 'useful consciousness' while he was still TAR-in' it ... he was EXTREMELY upset w/how much airline $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ I made at the time compared to his lot in life .... do you think he thought he was the 'same' as me .... ???

In any case, I suggested if he didn't like it --- he should become an airline pilot.

 

[Fog]

A4S: I'm real sorry you had that experience w/ him and agree that he apparently acted like a jerk. Those were times when legacy airline pilots in fact seemed to have the world by that balls. Nobody then had crashed yet - not even Braniff or PanAm. I remember my VP days in the reserves when I flew with 131Xs (a) flying full-time for Delta (12-15 days/mo. job then), (b) drawing the GI Bill for night school (usually law) and (c) flying in the reserves at 6-10 drills per month. Obviously, life changed for everyone after that.

If you remember Beaver's predecessor (Lt. S.B.), you can only say that Dennis was a warm & friendly member of the human race.

 

[Pags]

Turns out the PQM had gotten his foot stuck behind the right pedal and instead of saying anything leaned forward and tried to pull it out.

How the hell do you do that?

I've had a few close calls, but one stands out....

We were out doing a 2 ship day/night gun shoot in the gulf. Typical gulf night, ~3mi vis with no visible horizon. We finish up the patterns, the cards, and the live rounds with out a hitch. I take lead to bring us back to Bahrain. During the rendevous we were headed SE so I made a nice, easy turn towards the SW to bring us back home. As I complete the turn I ask the crewmen "Where's Dash 2?" as I turn my head to look towards the 3 o'clock. The crewmen manage to get out a "uh" as Dash 2 overruns us. I track them through the greenhouse as they pass close overhead of our bird. I get on the admin freq and say something to the effect of "2, you guys ok?" and i get back "we're gonna head home by ourselves". I ask my guys if they saw what happened and one said "i think that's the calmest near mid-air I've ever seen". After we get back single ship we debrief and that's when I get scared. Turns out someone was looking inside when they shouldn't have been. When they looked up, they tried to increase their AOB and the radius of turn didn't work out. The HAC of 2 had to turn towards me and pull til he saw a lot of red. I was real glad that I was flying out of Bahrain and could go home and have a few stiff drinks.

 

[A4sForever]

A4S: I'm real sorry you had that experience w/ him and agree that he apparently acted like a jerk. Those were times when legacy airline pilots in fact seemed to have the world by that balls. Nobody then had crashed yet - not even Braniff or PanAm. I remember my VP days in the reserves when I flew with 131Xs (a) flying full-time for Delta (12-15 days/mo. job then), (b) drawing the GI Bill for night school (usually law) and (c) flying in the reserves at 6-10 drills per month. Obviously, life changed for everyone after that.

If you remember Beaver's predecessor (Lt. S.B.), you can only say that Dennis was a warm & friendly member of the human race.

Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh ... not your problem, no need to say "you're sorry", unless you don't 'love' me ... as we all know 'love means never havin' to say you're sorry' ... apologies to Ryan O'Neal and Love Story ...

Beaver's predecessor was a prick.

Your recollections of how it was in the 'good ol' days' is EXACTLY correct ... we had the 'world by the balls' ... I wonder if the younger fellows will ever see it again ... ???

 

[MasterBates]

Okay, here was my worst close call-

Day to Night to NVG DLQ/RLQs about 50nm off the coast of JAX. 0% illumination (read as- dark as a manatees asshole at night during an eclipse, while locked in a photo lab)

Days went OK. Nights were underway, the pinkie time had been burned up with an OIC and the PXO. I was the HAC, riding left seat in PW-423, an old as shit block 0 SH-60B. It's now "f'in dark" and I have a PQM less than a month out of the RAG in the right seat. He's doing well, but he's still in the "HOLY SHIT I can't belive we do this AT NIGHT" mode. I believe later in the night was to be his NVG initial qual, but we were getting his unaided night qual first.

We were 200' on downwind, I had him do a couple 400' approaches, and now was introducing him to the 200' alternate approach. For those who don't speak Small Boy, you drive in at 200' to hit the 1/2 mile gate at 50 knots, and decel from there to cross the deck edge with 5ish knots closure.

As we are at about the 90 1 mile astern, I feel a bump in the aircraft. MASTER CAUTION and AFCS caution lights come on. I check the "cubes" and pretty much all modes are offline. I attempt reset, no joy. 5 seconds later, from the nugget, "SHIT I just lost the GYRO". I grab the controls and get on mine. Pilot's AI is tumbling, and eventually locks up jumping +/- 20 degrees in pitch.

ATO gyro tumbles, settles out on essentially knife edge, and +/- 30 degrees roll oscillations beynod that. Both turn needles pegged, an for those who haven't been in a 60B, there is NO BACKUP GYRO. None.

We are now passing through the 45, about .8 astern. I've been turning via seat of pants. I have no attiude reference save the ship. The LSO had called a more or less standard "Green Deck for 1 and 2, Pitch 2 Roll 5" as this was going on. I was using the ship's stern light and masthead light as a "vertical horizon" knowing that it was within 5 degrees of verical to keep the helo upright.

I had a quick second to declare the emergency to the LSO, and the AW came up with probably the most rapid-fire closure/altitude calls I have ever heard in my career. Landed, LSO locked us into the RSD then I started to shake a bit.

If those gyros had tumbled 10 seconds earlier, I would not be here today.

There was a pair of fatal class A's right before this, and they started looking at the NSIUs on the 60s, and it turns out the boxes had a failure mode that LMCO and Sikorsky said was "impossible" that was, in fact possible.

 

[60flyer]

there is NO BACKUP GYRO. None.

That gives me chills just reading it. Was at the boat last night when it was pitch f'ing dark and the ship was in and out of squalls. Without instruments...you're done.....

 

[Catmando]

One of our standing rules while a JO and flying on the CAG/CO/XO's wing ... keep one eye on him and one eye on your AS/altimeter ...

The 'official' JO-title of this rule??

"The HEAVIES WILL KILL YOU".

And also keep one eye on your six if CAG's pack'n missiles.

Had a CAG bringing up the rear of an Alpha Strike. While tuning/checking his missiles, he accidently fired a Sidewinder right through the strike group! Fortunately it did not guide on any tailpipe, and went stupid.

.....But he did 'try' (inadvertently) to kill somebody.

[And AIM-9s make a loud noise as they stupidly fly right by you!!!]

 

[lowflier03]

Sadly I have several but here are the 3 at the top. Night CSAR-X off the coast of Oki going to the NTA in 0% illum. (For those who have been there it's f'in black) We are flying dash 2 and the amp on the Pilot's helmet comes apart in flight making him NORDO right seat. I take the controls and do a lead change so I'm not trying to fly form while he's picking up pieces. He gets it duct taped back together just in time for us to experience a power surge followed by an AC power failure. We lose the AFCS, STAB, NAV, etc. So I tell the other bird to take lead again since we are now essentially deaf, dumb and blind with no flight stabilization and no light. We follow them to Kadena AFB, declare the emergency and land safely. (Turns out one of the generators was going bad and the bus tie didn't swap the load so everything went. Even after we got the APU on line)

Second on the list was launching off a DDG flight 1 during a series of pax xfers. I let my copilot get some practice flying and as soon as the wheels leave the deck we start spinning left. I grab the controls, stomp on the right pedal and feel a "pop" as the nose stops spinning. I fly it up to straight and level and have the AW break out the big book. I directed him to a page that I remembered had recently been added detailing just such a situation. We all concur that the AFCS had just commanded full left pedal for no good reason in which case NATOPS recommends turning off the AFCS. We fly it over to our ship (DDG flight 2) who promptly informs us that all the numbers are out of limits because we have been hanging out on the edge of a typhoon. Luckily practicing alot of AFCS off flying in Plane Guard paid off and we put her down in the middle of the trap on the first pass. (A broken wire was discovered on a relay panel that the heading trim fed through.)

Number one on my list has to be experiencing the entire tail of the helo departing the aircraft during low level flight after we hit wires. (For those who know, everything behind the wet hinge came off in about a second.) We executed the AUTO, AUTO, AUTO procedures in a much abbreviated fashion from the "you won't live" area of the H/V diagram and managed to all walk away from a destroyed bird. (An event/situation that previous safety investigations had determined was completely "unsurvivable".) Anyone Helo bubbas that want details on this let me know and I'll send the full experience and writeup to a .mil with pics.

Cheers:icon_zbee:icon_drin

 

[Gatordev]

Number one on my list has to be experiencing the entire tail of the helo departing the aircraft during low level flight after we hit wires. (For those who know, everything behind the wet hinge came off in about a second.) We executed the AUTO, AUTO, AUTO procedures in a much abbreviated fashion from the "you won't live" area of the H/V diagram and managed to all walk away from a destroyed bird. (An event/situation that previous safety investigations had determined was completely "unsurvivable".) Anyone Helo bubbas that want details on this let me know and I'll send the full experience and writeup to a .mil with pics.

Cheers:icon_zbee:icon_drin

This wasn't at NSAWC w/in the last 9 months, was it?

 

[wlawr005]

Okay, here was my worst close call-

Day to Night to NVG DLQ/RLQs about 50nm off the coast of JAX. 0% illumination (read as- dark as a manatees asshole at night during an eclipse, while locked in a photo lab)

Days went OK. Nights were underway, the pinkie time had been burned up with an OIC and the PXO. I was the HAC, riding left seat in PW-423, an old as shit block 0 SH-60B. It's now "f'in dark" and I have a PQM less than a month out of the RAG in the right seat. He's doing well, but he's still in the "HOLY SHIT I can't belive we do this AT NIGHT" mode. I believe later in the night was to be his NVG initial qual, but we were getting his unaided night qual first.

We were 200' on downwind, I had him do a couple 400' approaches, and now was introducing him to the 200' alternate approach. For those who don't speak Small Boy, you drive in at 200' to hit the 1/2 mile gate at 50 knots, and decel from there to cross the deck edge with 5ish knots closure.

As we are at about the 90 1 mile astern, I feel a bump in the aircraft. MASTER CAUTION and AFCS caution lights come on. I check the "cubes" and pretty much all modes are offline. I attempt reset, no joy. 5 seconds later, from the nugget, "SHIT I just lost the GYRO". I grab the controls and get on mine. Pilot's AI is tumbling, and eventually locks up jumping +/- 20 degrees in pitch.

ATO gyro tumbles, settles out on essentially knife edge, and +/- 30 degrees roll oscillations beynod that. Both turn needles pegged, an for those who haven't been in a 60B, there is NO BACKUP GYRO. None.

We are now passing through the 45, about .8 astern. I've been turning via seat of pants. I have no attiude reference save the ship. The LSO had called a more or less standard "Green Deck for 1 and 2, Pitch 2 Roll 5" as this was going on. I was using the ship's stern light and masthead light as a "vertical horizon" knowing that it was within 5 degrees of verical to keep the helo upright.

I had a quick second to declare the emergency to the LSO, and the AW came up with probably the most rapid-fire closure/altitude calls I have ever heard in my career. Landed, LSO locked us into the RSD then I started to shake a bit.

If those gyros had tumbled 10 seconds earlier, I would not be here today.

There was a pair of fatal class A's right before this, and they started looking at the NSIUs on the 60s, and it turns out the boxes had a failure mode that LMCO and Sikorsky said was "impossible" that was, in fact possible.

That's one of those reasons that I ALWAYS had my goggles on and ready to flip down EVERY TIME we flew nights. I HATED night time at the boat.

 

[wlawr005]

This wasn't at NSAWC w/in the last 9 months, was it?

NSAWC either needs to shit can the low-levels in that area or get rid of the wires. How many helos have hit those damn things in the last two years?

 

[Gatordev]

IF this is the mishap I think it is (and I'm not saying it is), if you read the SIR, you may have a different opinion.

 

[teabag53]

NSAWC either needs to shit can the low-levels in that area or get rid of the wires. How many helos have hit those damn things in the last two years?

Should they get rid of the wires in all of the other countries we fly in? Or how about the areas we haven't ever flown into but may HAVE to? I'm dumber for reading that.

Remember, train as you fight.

 

[wlawr005]

Should they get rid of the wires in all of the other countries we fly in? Or how about the areas we haven't ever flown into but may HAVE to? I'm dumber for reading that.

Remember, train as you fight.

I just think they pose a serious risk to training. When you do it for real, your crew is qualified. During AirWing hops, guys are trying to get an X at the same time. I just think that a lot of birds have gone down around that area lately for the same particular reason/same particular wires.

 

[bunk22]

That's one of those reasons that I ALWAYS had my goggles on and ready to flip down EVERY TIME we flew nights. I HATED night time at the boat.

What exactly did you do night time at the boat? You're kind of out of your league in this discussion.