September 4, 2002
Davies action averts air disaster
Veteran Petty Officer receives Coast Guard Commendation Medal
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
In February, a routine maintenance operation at the Traverse City Coast Guard Air Station suddenly had deadly implications.
Petty Officer Brian Davies, an 18-year veteran of the service, noticed that a crucial flight control component had a discrepancy. He was part of a team that day changing the main gear box, so Davies was inspecting the flight controls while the main rotor drive system was split in two.
Davies found that a servomechanism, instead of being tightly torqued, could be rotated by hand. The three servos in the flight controls change the angle of the HH-65A "Dolphin" helicopter's blades, working together to maintain a stable flight. If one or more had failed, the craft could have crashed without warning.
"It was like stumbling on a crack in the sidewalk, really blatant but at first you can't believe it," Davies said. "All five aircraft that we had stationed here had the same failure. They were either improperly torqued or had loosened and it was probably a recent problem."
After Davies' discovery, the other four aircraft at the station were immediately grounded. The crew swung into action and their inspection showed that six of the ten other servos had the same problem. The aircraft maintenance technician team quickly repaired the mechanisms and got the helicopters flying again that same day.
This failure had worldwide implications. Word quickly went out to other Coast Guard facilities that use the HH-65A helicopter, as well as to users of the French-made helicopter in other countries.
Lance Benton, commander of the Traverse City Air Station, said that Davies' contribution exemplifies the Coast Guard spirit.
"It is very important that this individual was able to spot a problem that has been with the fleet a long time," Benton said. "It is certain that had this not been discovered, one of those servos would have failed, which would have resulted in loss of control and crash and possible loss of lives."
On July 21, Davies received a Coast Guard Commendation Medal from Rear Admiral James Olson. Admiral Olson is based in Washington, D.C., and is responsible for all operational assets in the Coast Guard.
In addition, the team facilitating the inspection and repair received a Meritorious Team Award from the Admiral. Team members included LCDR Christopher Day, CWO4 Andrew Lovlien, AMTC Brian Buck, AMT1 Mark Frohnapfel, AMT2 Bryan Davies, AMT3 Tony Warnock and AMT3 Austin Griggs.
Benton is proud of how his personnel immediately assessed the situation and moved to correct it, protecting the lives of their fellow service members and, potentially, civilians on the ground.
"Once Davies figured out what was wrong, there was a team effort to fix it and make sure the word got out to the rest of the Coast Guard fleet," Benton noted.
Davies is a native of Bellaire and is currently serving his "Twilight Tour," his final tour before retirement, in Traverse City. Married, with two children ages 6 and 16, he has made a career out of what began as a quest for a job in the hard economic times of the early 1980s.
"I joined five years after high school," recalled Davies. "I was inspired by Reagan - I couldn't find a job."
He served eight years in Mobile, Ala., and four years in Miami. He was originally trained on the HU-25 Guardian, a fixed-wing jet. Besides being an aviation mechanic technician, Davies also operates the hoist for the rescue swimmers during flights.
While looking forward to retirement in two years, with plans to build a house in Bellaire and parlay his electronics and mechanical experience into another career, he knows there will be one major downside to leaving the Coast Guard.
"I'm going to miss everyone like hell," he said.