Responding to a Mishap
In Ready, aim, fire (post #10 ) and The Guardian (post #11), I shared with you the commitment to the process, not the outcome, that we worked to foster in our helicopter aircrews – ready, aim, fire… God willing… Thy will done.
That said, conditions, considerations, equipment malfunctions, and human error can combine to make even the best “archers” miss badly. While having a process and being committed to that process decreases probability of a mishap, never the less, the proverbial swiss cheese holes will line up and things will go wrong (sometimes horribly wrong). We define a mishap as an unplanned, unexpected, undesired event that leads to a close call or unsought outcome. Following mishaps, I remind myself, it could have been me, and I ask myself, what can we do for the crew. The immediate action items are always to respond with grace, love, and support.
In 2023 a helicopter crew, during an attempt to assist a mariner in distress, impacted obstacles and terrain while maneuvering in a hover with minimal visual cues, due to low visibility with darkness, high winds, and snow. Although there were life altering injuries, the whole crew survived. Our unit and many others responded with grace, love, and support. I admired the outstanding efforts.
I wrote to the team:
“The next step following the response is for our aviators to operate from a position of integrity by learning and improving from each other’s experiences without being critical. Because we OPI, we commit to, ‘shine a light on events that don’t go well (I’ll add big and small). Malicious intent is not accepted (there was none). Virtuous intent with a suboptimal outcome must result in frank/transparent reflection and continuous process improvement for individuals, the team, and organization (post #8).’ As mentioned above, if we are truly honest with ourselves, following most mishaps we recognize that it could have been our crew. We need to work exceptionally hard to avoid a mishap but when one occurs, we need to harness what we can from it (Joe Campbell’s Nietzsche inspired wisdom is fitting – quote is at the bottom).
A couple of weeks ago, I had a brief exchange about my passion for our craft with another pilot. He made a comment that was something to the effect of, “you must really like aviation or be really scared.” Both are correct. However, “scared” is not the word I would choose. I am very “aware” that flying rescue helicopters is a high reward, high consequence endeavor. It takes a lot of community work to buy down risk through proficiency in craft (skill, knowledge, leadership, and decision making).
By my rough count, in 20 years of operating within relatively small training and response aviation communities, this is the 18th mishap that resulted in the aircraft being a complete loss. 12 of these 18 mishaps and all the resultant lives lost occurred from 2004 to 2012 (with an unprecedented period of mishaps in our rotary-wing community from 2008-2012). Each one of those 18 mishaps is woven into my airmanship and awareness. We all tend to get “comfortable” and shift priorities when the risk of our profession has not been exposed for years. I sense that renewed awareness is something from which our community can benefit. It is an impetus to double down on our proficiency and execution. Spiral up.
Notes –
Theodore Roosevelt wisdom, “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
Joe Campbell wisdom, “Whatever the hell happens, you say, “yes.” It may be a wreck but go at it as though it were… a challenge… if you bring love to that moment – not discouragement – you will find the strength is there. Any disaster that you can survive is an improvement in your character… and your life… Then, when looking back, you will see that the moments which seemed to be great failures followed by wreckage were incidents that shaped the life you have now… The crisis throws you back, and when you are required to exhibit strength, it comes.”
Amor Fati – “The demon you can swallow gives you its power, and the greater life’s pain, the greater life’s reply.”
Some transparency, my deeds were not matching these words… Prior to the mishap, I was belly aching and whining (some words… mostly thoughts) regarding life circumstances out of my control. These circumstances paled in comparison to what was a life changing event for the mishap crew.
Like a lot of these events, the mishap rapidly provided perspective for me and reminded me of wisdom from coach Phil Stutz. He says, “We will never be exonerated from three things. Pain. Uncertainty. Challenging work.”
We tend to spend a lot of our lives trying to pretend this isn’t true and it is the source of a lot of frustration. Radically accepting and then reaccepting (moment to moment) the fact that life is challenging, and these challenges are what help us actualize and live fulfilled lives, can be game changing.
After writing a long declaration like that I always need to remind myself… Deeds not words! – Spiral up