2006: Class C summary in review.

Already to during FY06, there have been 102 Class-C mishaps that involved 111 aircraft. More importantly, six of those mishaps involved injury personnel, resulting in 21 lost workdays. The following summary provides a breakdown of the top six causal factors for Class C mishaps around the fleet:

1. Fifteen of the mishaps involved aircraft under the positive control of aircrew, maintenance personnel or yellowshirts that were taxied, towed, or directed into other objects, such as aircraft or buildings. Equal blame can be shared because aircrew and maintenance personnel (squadron and yellowshirts) had instances when they lost focus on the aircraft or got in a hurry.

2. Ten of the mishaps resulted from things fall-ing off aircraft, better known as TFOA. These items ranged from engine-bay doors to cowlings. In a couple of the mishaps, pieces hit and damaged the aircraft before falling to earth.

3. Support equipment is third on the list, damaging eight aircraft. The causes ranged from a piece of gear not being tied down to maintainers towing the gear into aircraft.

4. Foreign object damage (FOD) is tied for third. About 50 percent of the FOD incidents were from objects departing the aircraft and being sucked down the intake during takeoff or in flight. One of the FOD mishaps is worth mentioning because it directly involved maintenance personnel. A technician got too close to the intake and felt a tug on his head. The lenses from his goggles were sucked off his cranial and went straight down the intake-just a little too close for comfort.

5. In five mishaps, seven subcomponents were jettisoned from aircraft, including three drop tanks and two canopies. Neither of these incidents happened in flight: One was during a preflight inspection and the other on post-flight inspection.

6. Four F-18 canopies were destroyed as a result of the exhaust from other aircraft. Advances in technology certainly have made the maintenance person's job easier in the last 10 years or so, but it's not without cost. As with anything new, we have to learn its characteristics and capabilities. This problem will take concerted effort to control.

This list shows that we still have FOD, TFOA and SE issues. With the advances in technologies, we pay a hefty price when one of our assets is damaged. More than 50 of the Class C mishaps were in the group described, which is half of this year's total. Most of these mishaps occurred because of direct maintenance errors, and the Navy and Marine Corps shelled out $6,445,376 in repair costs on these Class C mishaps alone. Maintainers are doing a good job, but we can do better. Commit to excellence.

By AMC(AW) Paul Hofstad

Chief Hofstad is an Airframes Analyst and the Crossfeed Coordinator for the Naval Safety Center.