It was a bright, sunny March afternoon, and our squadron was in the first week of TSTA I and II. I was on the flight deck getting ready to do a turnaround on a Tomcat parked near the fantail and scheduled for the next event. A plane-captain trainee was pinning the ejection seats when jet exhaust from a Hornet forced him to close the canopy. He had to use "boost close" to get the canopy down, which depleted almost all nitrogen from the Tomcat's canopy system.
I had no idea the canopy servicing was so low, or that the troubleshooters were getting ready to service it. My job as a qualified plane captain was to look after my trainee's safety, my aircraft, and me. As soon as the Hornet spun away, I opened the canopy to make sure my trainee had pinned the seats correctly. When I did this, I unknowingly depleted the last of the nitrogen.
As I climbed the ladder, my supervisor told me to get down so we could discuss the next event. We were talking when the "grapes" arrived to fuel my jet. Despite being distracted, I noticed the trainee trying to close the canopy. It wouldn't budge because the canopy servicing gauge read zero. Unfortunately, I didn't know my trainee had left the handle in the closed position instead of in the hold position.
I returned to the cockpit, finished my inspection, and prepared for the aircrew. I never saw troubleshooters or a nitrogen cart under my jet. The upper half of my body was over the pilot's cockpit, and the lower half was on the boarding step. Jets were launching off cats 3 and 4, so I never heard the warning sounds of the canopy closing, the nitrogen bottles filling, or the sounds of the nitrogen cart pumping.
Suddenly, I felt a tremendous pain in my back as one of the canopy hooks hit my spine. This was followed by all 300-plus pounds of canopy coming to rest on the small of my back. I could not breathe or scream for help. I tried to reach for the canopy-control handle inside the cockpit, but I couldn't grab it. It was a frightening predicament, and I knew death wasn't far away.
As I began to black out, someone opened the canopy using the external handle. In my panic, I jumped from the jet and landed on my knees. I tried to stand but barely could move because of the pain in my back.
The ship's medical team was great, and they ran me through multiple tests and X-rays. Other than a nasty bruise and sore muscles, I didn't have any serious injuries. I considered myself lucky; however, I can't rely on luck in the future. I didn't practice ORM, but I learned my lesson, and I'll never climb into another cockpit without checking canopy servicing and canopy-handle position.
Airman "Sabo" Sabogalbonfant is a plane captain at VF-102. |
