Last in the line of defense

Approach, Feb, 2002 by Phil Ventura

A great day of flying ended in a moment of humility. Our standard routine had turned into complacency. I had studied every aircraft system and prepared myself for any emergency scenario that could have been posed during my earlier NATOPS flight, but. I failed to check for something as simple as panel screws during my evening flight. The aircraft-data book thoroughly recorded all work that was done on the upper left fuselage of aircraft 500. I should have double-checked the panel. More importantly, I should have noticed the obvious loose screws during my standard preflight of the aircraft.

As aircrew, we are the final checkers in a long line of maintenance workers, supervisors, QA inspectors, and plane captains who preflight our aircraft. The preflight items in NATOPS are the minimum, not the maximum. As our time and experience in the jet grows, we must continue to augment our preflight inspection with lessons learned from mishap reports and from our own experiences, just as I surely will.

Lt. Ventura flies with VAQ-140.