Quickstoppers

by AMC/SEF
Air Mobility Command

5/5/2014 - Summer 2014 -- ...Quickstoppers

Heat Hazards - Not Just Physical
By MR. MICHAEL WAHLER
AMC/SEF

January 1997, Howard AFB, Panama. The temperature was about 95 degrees Fahrenheit, and the humidity was about 96 percent. I was a young KC-135R aircraft commander on my first deployment. Our scheduled receiver was notorious for being unreliable. There were no air conditioning carts available; accordingly, we took plenty of bottled water out to the jet for the preflight and mission. Our receiver was collocated at Howard, so coordination was extremely easy. As we completed our preflight checks, the receiver called and told us he was broken, so we sat on the 150-degree flight deck and waited for him to get fixed. Just as his jet was fixed, our jet developed a malfunction, so we had to wait while our maintainers worked to fix it. As "murphy" would have it, when our jet was fixed, our receiver broke again; consequently, the wait continued. After we sat on the airplane for over four hours, we were all feeling the effects of the heat, despite consuming over one gallon of water each. I called in to our operations desk and had them deliver more water to the jet. Finally, my copilot stated she was stepping off the jet to cool down before she threw up, and the light bulb came on. I was about to fly a sortie with an entire crew on the verge of heat exhaustion. I called our operations desk and our receiver, informing them we were calling safety flight. We cancelled and returned to the hotel.

I am still very thankful to my copilot for having the sense to get off the jet, which brought me to my senses. Never forget that extended exposure to environmental extremes not only affects your body, but also your mind. Take time to think things through: consider your physical capabilities and your ability to process events mentally.


LOSA Relook
By LT COL KENNETH R. PICHA
AMC/SEF

HQ AMC/SEF finished the observation phase of the C-5 and C-21 Line Operations Safety Audit (LOSA) in early March. The next step in the process will be data verification by HQ Subject Matter Experts, followed by a formal analysis and written report by the contractor, The LOSA Collaborative (TLC). Once these actions are complete, AMC/CC will convene a Safety Investigation Board (SIB) this summer. The SIB will conduct a "deep-dive" of the data the observers compiled and will produce recommendations for the C-5 and C-21 fleet. These recommendations are expected to correct deficiencies or improve practices across both fleets.

The first relook LOSA will be the C-17, starting the first week of October 2014. The C-17 LOSA in 2011 set the baseline, and this second C-17 LOSA will audit how the C-17 community is doing in relation to the established baseline. This second LOSA will also show how well the enacted recommendations took hold and any further deficiencies that may have developed or were not observed in the first LOSA.

At the time of this writing, there are seven Final Safety Reports covering the pilot, loadmaster, and boom operator positions on various aircraft. These reports are in AFSAS; contact a Flight Safety Officer if you are interested in finding out the results. This data will give you a better insight into what information the LOSA observers gathered and the SIB recommendations.