A crushing problem.

Repairers, there is one place to stand while doing maintenance on your Kiowa Warrior. But the universal weapons pylon (UWP), the ejector rack and electrical harness are not it.

Use either a maintenance stand or your bird's maintenance step to go top-side. But keep those big feet off the pylon, the ejector rack and the electrical harness to avoid problems.

Stepping on the ejector rack's jettison cable can damage insulation and crush the internal wires. Also, you can bend or damage the UWP, knocking out proper clearances between the weapons and other parts of the airframe.

A crushed electrical harness can prevent ejection of a failed weapon in an emergency, or cause premature misfiring of the ejector rack impulse cartridges.

If that happens, you and your Kiowa's weapon systems are put in harm's way. For example, a defective Hellfire or Stinger missile that can't be jettisoned could go ka-boom.

So do yourself and the next person a favor and put your feet where they belong. Inspect the electrical harness for damage, wear, chafing from aircraft vibration, and exposed wires like it says in Paragraph I-4 of Appendix I in TM 9-1090-214-23&P. If you find damage, let your AVIM shop know.

If there is no damage, protect the harness by ensuring it is properly routed when re-installed like it says in Paragraph 4-72, Step 14, on page 4-422 of the TM.