I know last time I said I would be posting a bit of a continuation to Through a Child's Eyes but after I finished it and went over it a few times I think it will be better suited a couple of months from now. But how about a little story for stopping by.
A few postings back I mentioned that at onetime I was a Flight Mechanic on the military C-9A Nightingale medevac aircraft operating out of Scott AFB IL. Below ten thousand feet the Flight Mechanic was required to be in the jump seat between the Pilot and Co-pilot as a third set of eyes’ and to call in to base operations to coordinate servicing and ground support. I’d like to tell you about one flight at least me and one other gentleman remembers.
The Nightingale is a standard McDonnell Douglas DC-9 that was widely used in civilian aviation. Being a series A, the fuselage was shorter than most of the DC-9’s used by airlines, this made the thrust to weight ratio fairly high and the aircraft was very agile for its design. She also has some noteworthy modifications. First there was a large door and ramp system installed on the side of the fuselage so litter patients could be brought on-board. Second the interior was configured so we could change from seats for ambulatory patients (walking wounded) to stanchions for litter patients (ones on stretchers). We could carry up to forty patients either seated or on stretchers in any combination. The change would only take a few minutes, a really nice setup. Finally up towards the cockpit there was an intensive care unit compartment outfitted with a wide assortment of medical equipment. We used the ICU primarily for urgent patients but during routine transport missions a non-urgent patient would sometimes be put in this area to keep more seats in the back.
During our flights we would use the call-sign EVAC followed by three digits depending on what regions we were servicing that day, example: EVAC 634 or EVAC 216. Most of the time when we contacted Air Traffic Control (ATC) with the EVAC call-sign they would give us direct routing and rarely put us in any type of holding pattern. Often during approach ATC would ask if we had a visual on the runway, if we did they would give us landing clearance often at a significant altitude. Like I said the Nightingale was very agile we would trade altitude for airspeed and get down in a hurry during approach. There was one little quark with doing this, it would often set off an audible alarm in the cockpit. We were use to it but for one gentleman that had been placed in the ICU area I guess it was a bit much.
Flying into Philadelphia International, this was the radio conversation between us and approach control.
ATC: EVAC 611 do you have visual on runway 27 Right?
Co-pilot: Affirmative, We have visual contact with runway 27 Right.
ATC: EVAC 611 Can you make direct approach?
Slight pause as the co-pilot glanced towards the pilot, being we were still a thousand plus feet above normal approach glide path. The pilot nodded yes.
Co-pilot: Affirmative, EVAC 611 can take direct approach.
ATC: EVAC 611 you are cleared direct approach landing runway 27 Right, contact ground control 121.9
Co-pilot: EVAC 611 copy, clear to land runway 27 Right, contact ground control 121.9, Thank you approach.
The pilot nosed the jet over dumping altitude at a rapid rate. Moments into our decent the audible alarm started to sound off.
AGNNN AGNNN PULL UP AGNNN AGNNN PULL UP AGNNN AGNNN PULL UP
That’s when I heard one of the most blood curdling screams in my life followed by the patient frantically yelling;
“OH GOD, Do’d it says… Do’d it says”
It took both Flight Nurses to keep the gentleman in the litter, I’m sure an injection was involved, because as I walked back through the cabin after landing he was looking a little sleepy. I think the nurse may have also put a note in his chart about suffering a bit of stress induced cardiac trauma…
Sorry about that, Fella’J
I’m working this weekend so the next posting will most likely be Monday afternoon.
Thanks for stopping by
The TOMCAT
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