In the Spring of 1973 I was heading out of Whiting Field, Florida with my training squadron to do carrier qualifications on the USS Lexington. I was flying a T-28 Trojan in a five-man echelon formation. We were leaving land, heading out into the Gulf of Mexico to find our carrier. My section leader, flying diagonally to my left and several feet above, began to fly erratically and drift away from the echelon leader. It became clear that he was having some problems. It turned out later that he had lost his radio. Two other planes were flying on my wing and instructed to stay there until we reached the carrier. We had been practicing this for months. As we drifted further off course, I asked to myself, “do I leave my section leader and get myself and my wingmen back in formation, or do I stay with him because he is in trouble?” The weather was getting worse, and we needed the Echelon Leader to get us to the carrier and back to base, especially because we weren’t instrument trained at the time. Although we all could get to the carrier, we had to worry about midair collisions if we got separated and the weather deteriorated further. The pilot with radio problems finally realized he was putting us all at risk and got back into formation.
We all went on to successfully complete our carrier qualifications that day, but not without teaching me a good lesson. Keep your eye on the mission. Although my section leader was in trouble, it was no reason for him to lose his head and risk his fellow pilots by leaving the formation with us on his wing. When an emergency hits, it’s important than ever to stick with your rituals and training procedures; to be able to stay cool in a crisis and execute as you have been trained; to deal with your emergency but still keep your eye on the bigger picture. Our team leader should have stayed in formation while he managed his emergency — not put the rest of us at risk. You have a team – and clients – depending on you.
How did you do during this crisis of 2008 and 2009? Did you followed your plan, process and rituals? Was your training designed for an emergency or just fair weather? Were you prepared if your partner panicked and started to take the team in a wrong direction? Did you leave your leader and put your wingmen (clients) in jeopardy, or did you deal with the smaller emergencies while you kept your eye on your mission?
Supernova prepares you for all kinds of weather, not just clear skies. Your multi-generational planning, 12/4/2, and rapid response team will keep your communications sharp as you monitor the weather for storms and get your wingmen safely to their destination.