AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2012 - 56

CREW RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
DURING INTERCEPT EXERCISES on the St. Johns River at Jacksonville, Florida, the rubber snout of an inert weapon projecting out the door began to make a whistling sound in the wind. About that time there was a tar-like odor detected from shore. Before the sources were determined, the helicopter commander said he was aborting the mission. After it was determined the mission could safely continue, the crew was asked if they agreed. That included me, an observer in the back. —Alton K. Marsh

APPROACHING the target from behind, the three-member crew identified it as described to them by the Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. An admiral a thousand or more miles away was contacted for permission to use force— and the game was on. The gunner opened the door and installed an M240 machine gun and a 31-pound Barrett M107 .50-caliber sniper rifle on canvas straps that cushion the guns from the vibration of the helicopter. As the helicopter drew alongside, the noise of its twin engines masked by the boat’s multiple outboard motors, the checklist called for turning on a flashing blue light beneath the helicopter and illuminating the U.S. Coast Guard logo on the tail. The blue light identified the helicopter as law enforcement. A call was made on marine VHF channel 16 to stop, but the boat continued. It was time to stitch the sea. Stitching sprays a line of 7.62-millimeter, copper-clad, full-metal-jacket rounds in front of the go-fast boat—every fifth round is a tracer. In one continuous burst the gun is raised and lowered three times, like a garden hose watering plants. As is typical, the boat crew ignored the bullets, continuing on in the knowledge that the drug cartel might kill their families if they
56 | AOPA PILOT December 2012

dump the drugs too early. On one intercept, a boat crewmember was seen talking on a satellite phone, leading Coast Guard officials to assume that he was calling the cartel. That’s not what happened this time. Out came the M107, custom designed for military operations by Tennessee manufacturer Ronnie Barrett. A sighting system picked out the closest of the boat’s motors and a round was released from the muzzle, easily finding its target; all four crewmen jumped into the sea, not wishing to see a second engine explode. The Coast Guard never fires on the crew unless it appears a weapon will be raised in the direction of the helicopter. “We’ve had them pick them up, raise them above their heads, and throw them into the water. They do it very slowly,” said a gunner who asked not to be identified. When the cutter arrived, the crewm e n — c l u t c h i n g C o a s t G u a rd l i f e preservers—and their $10 million cargo were brought aboard. There was no effort to save the boat. “They become artificial reefs,” said Cmdr. Rich Hancock, the operations officer for the Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron (HITRON) in Jacksonville, Florida.
WORST MISSION EVER

A RAINSHOWER SOAKED the head-

Missions aren’t always that easy. Often the boat is rolling in heavy seas, while winds

quarters ramp while helicopters were over the Atlantic Ocean for a live-fire exercise. This helicopter is waiting to be washed with fresh water after flying through salty ocean spray (right). A 7.62-caliber tracer round for the M240G machine gun (above). Sights on the .50-caliber rifle (top) were not allowed to be photographed.

AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2012