Air Force chief of safety: accidents can, will be prevented

Combat Edge, Feb, 2003 by Ron MSgt Tull

Has there ever been a headline about an accident that was prevented by safety? Not likely, said the Air Force's new chief of safety. Accidents that do not happen simply do not make good headlines.

The lack of good publicity is something Maj Gen Kenneth W. Hess, who became the service's top safety official in June 2002, can live with. It is the loss of life that he works to prevent. "There's an implied assumption by mothers and fathers that when their sons and daughters come to the military, that after an enlistment or career, we will return them safely," he said. "We owe it to those parents who are giving us our nation's treasure to create an environment that's safe."

Far too often in 2002, that has not happened. The general acknowledges that it has been a rough year for safety. As a former commander of three flying wings and a numbered air force, Gen Hess takes the fatalities behind safety statistics personally, as do all commanders. "It's one of those bedrock issues that you live with every day as a commander," he said.

Most safety accidents come in three distinct categories: aircraft, ground, and off-duty ground. While the first two categories make headlines, off-duty accidents killed more airmen than the war on terrorism. "Private motor vehicle accidents are through the roof," Gen Hess said. "We're having the worst year since 1991. Generally speaking, our airmen are dying alone out there in the middle of the night."

Prior to the summer safety campaign referred to as the "101 Critical Days of Summer," safety officials were working on an action plan, in response to an Integrated Process Team report, to carry out a major overhaul of the Air Force traffic safety program. "One of the contributing factors (according to the report) is that incoming members no longer get the same level of driver's education that was once taught in high school, as a kind of rite of passage," Gen Hess said.

Traffic safety courses taught to basic trainees and technical school students will be the first to use new information from the study. According to Hess, the overhauled programs will target 18- to 25-year-olds. "We've learned that peers are often a greater influence than commanders, so we're going to concentrate on those relationships and deliver messages where peers might help each other modify their driving behavior," he said.

But not all fatalities have come on the highway. Class A flight mishaps -- ones that involve a death or at least $1 million in damage -- were up dramatically in fiscal year 2002. As we finish the year, the rate is 1.66 mishaps per 100,000 hours, up from 1.16 in fiscal year 2001.

Gen Hess said a big reason for the increase is Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. For example, helicopter landings in Afghanistan are particularly troublesome because of the high altitudes and very fine sand on the ground can cause near white-out conditions during landings. "The accidents that have happened in the area of responsibility are in an environment that we can't replicate in the U.S.," he said. "This contributes to a steep learning curve in how to operate safely in that environment." He expects the accident rate to go down as the Air Force gains more experience operating in Afghanistan and surrounding areas.

But, he cautioned, experience can sometimes breed a dangerous condition called familiarity. The General stressed that ground safety is an area where awareness and operational risk management need to be emphasized to combat this subtle factor. "Tasks are learned through repetition," he said. "The more you (perform) a task, the more you simply react to the task and the thinking part of it goes away. When one element of the environment changes, you get surprised."

An important key to eliminating hazards of all types, he said, is risk management -- the mission of the Air Force Safety Center at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M. "Risk management is a way of thinking, not a program," he said. "It requires looking forward to prevent accidents. And we're in the accident prevention business."