2nd AS aircrew saves 36 lives Published Jan. 4, 2007 By 1st Lt. Lisa Ferguson 43rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- When the aircrew of Crome 41 took off on a combat air-land mission Oct. 11, 2005, heading to Iraq, they never imagined it would be the day they would avert a serious in-flight emergency and save the lives of the 36 people on board. "Stories like this go on all the time; it's part of doing the job," said Lt. Col. Howard Ward, 2nd Airlift Squadron commander. "We get so busy pounding out the mission; this really exemplifies what the C-130 is all about." For Capt. Andrew Black, aircraft commander; Capt. Chad Steel, copilot; Capt. Lee Masztak, navigator; Staff Sgt. Daniel Bobb, flight engineer; Staff Sgt. Kenneth Webb, loadmaster; and Airman 1st Class Michael Hopkins, loadmaster; it started out as a "routine" mission. "Desert operations in a combat environment at night have many challenges that a crew must adapt to and overcome, especially when things go wrong," said Captain Black. "Never was this more prevalent than this night; it was a true team effort. We were able to turn it on, make decisions when needed, and work together to overcome the obstacles. Ultimately, this was the determinate factor of getting 30 passengers, a C-130 aircraft and six crewmembers back home safely. We take great pride in this fact." Fifty nautical miles inside the Iraq border, Sergeant Webb smelled fumes similar to burning plastic, and he immediately notified the aircrew. Captain Black directed everyone to don their oxygen masks and began running smoke/fumes elimination and electrical fire checklists. The passengers all began to put on the emergency passenger oxygen systems, which according to Lt. Col. Warren Barlow, 43rd Airlift Wing chief of safety, have about 10 to 20 minutes worth of oxygen. Unfortunately, even though the EPOS all checked out during the pre-flight inspection, 12 began to fail after about 2 minutes time. Sergeant Webb then noticed that one passenger was unresponsive and quickly administered emergency oxygen using his own mask and bottle. He continuously swapped and refilled the oxygen bottles with the unconscious passenger. He was then alerted to another passenger going into duress. Sergeant Webb left his mask with the unconscious passenger and began to give care to the other passenger, fitting him with another EPOS. Airman Hopkins took over care of the second passenger, allowing Sergeant Webb to return to the first passenger. "Buddy breathing to keep one of the passengers conscious...that was heroic," Colonel Ward said. "He put himself at personal risk to save another's life." During this time the pilots were descending to 10,000 feet to allow the plane to depressurize and open the forward escape hatch, but it also put the entire plane, crew and passengers at risk for enemy fire. The smoke and fumes cleared, allowing fresh air in and removal of the emergency oxygen tanks. Aircrew continued to scan for enemy threats, as the co-pilot and navigator radioed in for medical personnel and command post coordination. Two radios failed, forcing the crew to switch among three frequencies to coordinate with all personnel. Because of the suspected fire from an electrical source the crew had to remove electrical systems from the source of the fire to try and ensure that the fire was prevented from spreading further, according to 1st Lt. Jessica Block, 2nd Airlift Squadron. One of the systems that was lost when they were shut down was pressurization, so the crew had to descend below 10,000 feet where there was enough oxygen in the air to breathe safely. With a suspected fire, minimal systems are reinstated so that the fire isn't started up again inadvertently. This led to a loss of most electronic controls and the crew decided to perform a no-flap landing rather than manually cranking the flaps down. "It's not a normal procedure to land with no flaps, and not something we normally do real-world," Colonel Barlow said. "You have to ensure you have sufficient runway to land." In the end, the plane landed, all passengers were turned over to medical personnel and everyone safely evacuated. Seven passengers were treated for shock and mild hypoxia. The unconscious passenger suffered minor brain damage and temporary memory loss, but made a full recovery. "There are a couple of families out there that if it wasn't for our guys, they would be mourning the sacrifice of their loved ones instead of bragging about their service," Colonel Ward said. "It's just what you do. When you're there, it's a natural reaction to take care of people. "It's our job to take care of them." "One of the things that I was told about Herk flying is that 95 percent of it is boring and five percent is sheer terror," said Captain Steel. "On that night our crew faced an emergency that seemed to compound itself. I know that there were several Army troops who will never forget that flight, and several them owe their lives to Sergeant Webb and Airman Hopkins. The crew itself was a model of crew resource management. That night is certainly one that I look back on as a team effort that actually made an impact on the war, and allowed several families to have loved ones return to them alive and well." The heroic efforts of the Crome 41 aircrew saved 36 lives, a $22 million aircraft and took home Air Mobility Command's Aircrew of Distinction award. The crew represents AMC for the Air Force-level award, and those results will be announced sometime in February or March. "I've got the greatest squadron in the world, I really do," Colonel Ward said. "We are at a 99.6 percent mission complete rate with aircraft from 1963. It's unheard of; we're bringing 21st century employment with 1960s aircraft. I couldn't be prouder."