Bravo Zulu

Approach, Sept, 2002

The crew of RS-608 was practicing touch-and-go landings in their C-9 at McChord AFB on a NATOPS-instrument check. During a practice-missed approach at 200 feet AGL, Lt. Mishelle Mason (T3P) added full power and started to climb. As LCdr. Brad Graham (TAC) trimmed the throttle settings for max power, he observed a failure of the left engine. LCdr. Graham cleaned up the aircraft for single-engine climb and took the flight controls. Lt. Mason and LCdr. Kevin Jones (CC) executed the NATOPS procedures for engine failure in flight. The crew landed the aircraft without incident. Postflight inspection by maintenance personnel showed a failure of the engine-driven, fuel-boost-pump shaft caused the engine to flame out.

On Dec. 8, 2001, the crew of Lone Wolf 57 onboard USS Lassen launched to complete a vertrep-qualification flight. With the mission complete, the crew requested a green deck for landing. On short final, at 125 feet and 40 knots, the pilot at the controls, LCdr. Rick Nelson, and the helicopter-aircraft commander, Lt. Steven Smith, noticed torque and power-turbine rapidly decreasing to zero on the No. 2 engine.

LCdr. Nelson completed the NATOPS immediate-action items for an engine failure, while he waved off from the shipboard approach. Lt. Smith finished the pocket-checklist items and determined there was not a divert field within range. The crew did not restart the engine since the cause of the failure was unknown. They decided to perform a single-engine landing to the ship--the last option. The aircrew completed the single-engine-landing checklist, while the ship maneuvered for best winds.

Lt. Smith calculated power was available for a single-engine hover in ground effect. LCdr. Nelson flew the single-engine, no-hover-approach profile and maintained the helicopter within single-engine parameters in the event of a wave-off.

The aircrewman, AW2 Noe Maldonado, backed up the pilots with ground speed and altitude calls. As the aircraft crossed the flight deck, the crew verified power was available for a single-engine hover, and they transitioned to a normal landing.

The electronic control unit on the No. 2 engine had failed, causing the engine flameout.

Capt. Chucky Nolan was number four in a division of two F-16s and two FA-18s, flying from Ahmed Al-Jaber airbase in Kuwait, in support of Operation Southern Watch. The outside-air temperature was 105 degrees Fahrenheit, and the aircraft had a heavy ordnance load. On takeoff, Capt. Nolan experienced a left afterburner failure at 125 knots. The aircraft immediately veered to the left and required right rudder inputs to stay on the runway. Because of the heavy ordnance load, he continued with the takeoff, instead of executing a highspeed abort.

Once airborne, he couldn't retract the landing gear because of a left main-landing-gear problem. The initial rate of climb was estimated to be less than 300 feet per minute, but Capt. Nolan was able to climb to a comfortable altitude. Once established in a delta pattern, he dumped fuel to reach landing weight and made an uneventful straight-in landing.

Capt. Nolan had less than 300 hours in the Hornet, but his quick decisions allowed him to handle a serious compound emergency and prevent a mishap.

On the morning of Feb. 23, 2002, a P-3C crew of six on deployment to Keflavik, Iceland, conducted a routine pilot-proficiency flight. An hour and a half into the flight, the aircraft received a call from Keflavik approach, requesting their assistance in a SAR mission. A fishing boat was sinking in frigid waters off the Icelandic coast. The patrol-plane commander, LCdr. Charles Rayl, immediately proceeded to the last known position of the fishing vessel and contacted an Icelandic Coast Guard cutter that was also en route.

Fifteen minutes later, the crew arrived on station and found an empty life raft in the water, with no sign of survivors. At that same time, other airborne assets of the Icelandic Rescue Service arrived on the scene. The P-3 crew kept a watchful eye on the site of the sinking and passed positions of possible survivors to an Icelandic Coast Guard helicopter crew, who began pulling fishermen from the near-freezing water. For two and half hours, the P-3 crew assisted in the SAR effort until they reached their bingo fuel. By day's end, three of the four fishermen were found and rescued because of the quick response, adaptability and flexibility demonstrated by this aircrew.

The aircrew also included Lt. Gil Gay and Ltjg. Gary White, patrol-plane pilots; AE1 Brian Bashant and AD1 Diana Fiordiliso, flight engineers; and AW2 Phillip Hutchens, acoustic-systems operator.