Crew Resource Management: a crash course

Approach,  March-April, 2006  by Dave Shuster

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I taxied to cat 3 to be launched on a five-hour Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) mission. We were more than three months into cruise and had been flying OIF missions for a month. What was about to transpire would not be a typical OIF sortie. I was about to get the ultimate indoctrination into how crew resource management (CRM) can influence the outcome of an in-flight emergency. The question was, "Would the outcome be positive or negative?"

The cat shot was uneventful: No abnormal indications or noises were noted. I did my clearing turn and started to clean up. The gear-position lights extinguished normally, but the gear handle remained illuminated, indicating all gear were not up and locked. I thought the gear just was slow to retract, so I slightly pulled off power to remain below 250 knots to protect the gear from an overspeed. Then I waited ... and waited ... and waited. The light never went out.

I told tower I was climbing overhead to 2,000 feet and needed to speak with a Hornet rep. There was no scheduled recovery because I was on the first cycle of the day. I also wasn't sure how long a respot would take for any potential pull-forward.

Because I was an early launch, no one was airborne who could join for the inspection. As a result, tower coordinated a flyby. I flew the profile at 230 knots and 250 feet with the gear handle up. Tower and other aircraft on deck confirmed the left main-landing-gear doors were open. By this time, an S-3 had launched, and tower had him join on me for a visual inspection.

The S-3 said the port, forward, main-landing-gear door looked to be folded in half and had wedged itself between the remaining aft gear doors. Tower told me to remain overhead, and they would recover me during the next cycle. I climbed to 17,000 feet (our medium holding altitude) and set max endurance to save fuel.

While climbing, I contacted strike with sierra codes to pass to our ready room and advised them I would be monitoring button 18. Five minutes later, our maintenance officer (MO) called me from CATCC. I now had two sets of eyes and ears to help me with the situation. CATCC advised me that a Hornet would be joining for another visual inspection at 17,000 feet. After joining, the Hornet pilot confirmed the condition of the left main-landing-gear doors, and the decision was made to execute an emergency pull-forward.

The MO told me to try to extend the landing gear, with the other Hornet flying formation, so that the gear could be visually confirmed down-and-locked. The thought process here was to make sure if the gear would not come down, we would have plenty of time and fuel to troubleshoot. I tried to lower the landing gear, but only the right main and nose gear successfully extended down and locked. This was my first indication the problem was a little more serious than I originally had thought.

The MO began reading the steps for "landing gear unsafe/fails to extend," while others began coordinating tanker and divert options. As I worked through the checklist items, I was told the divert field would be Ali Al Salem in Kuwait, and the ground crew at the airfield already were in the process of rigging the short-field arresting gear. We eventually completed the "landing gear unsafe/fails to extend" checklist twice without success.

I flew toward the divert field while the S-3 again was vectored to my position, so the other Hornet and I could receive fuel. The other Hornet would stay with me throughout the divert. My wingman worked wonders helping me deal with the "language barrier" of the air-traffic controllers in the region. Although the decision was made to take an arrested landing in Kuwait, I still wasn't in the clear.

Because I was supposed to go on an OIF mission, my ordnance consisted of bombs, flares, a loaded gun, and a Sidewinder on the left wingtip. In addition, I was configured "goofy," meaning the drop tanks are mounted on the centerline and right, inboard, wing station.

I vividly remember the next question the rep asked, "306, which station is the 'Winder loaded on?"

I quickly answered, "The AIM-9 is on station 1," meaning the left wingtip.

I promptly followed this statement with a very disappointed, "Yeah, it's on the left wing."

Wingtip missiles can't be jettisoned, only shot. It sunk in that if I landed with the left main in the up position, I'd have to drag a live Sidewinder along the ground as I came to a stop.

In accordance with NATOPS, the rep began reading the "Landing Gear Malfunction Landing Guide."

A few steps needed to be followed for "one main landing gear retracted or trailing." First, I needed to make a fly-in arrested landing. Because the ship already had coordinated with the airfield, the gear was rigged, and they were ready for my arrival. If the ship had been blue water, the only course of action for this emergency would have been a barricade arrestment.