Brilliant 'Save' During 'Enduring Freedom'

Landing an aircraft on narrow strip of a rocking carrier deck at sea is what sets Naval aviators apart from all others. Now add fire, smoke and fumes to an already complicated situation and you have an idea of what S-3 pilot Cmdr. Ron Carlson was facing during a night flight that could have ended in disaster but instead earned him one of the most coveted awards in the military.

Capt. Steve Eastburg, manager of the Maritime Patrol Aircraft Program (PMA-290), presented Cmdr. Ron Carlson, NAVAIR’s S-3 Program Manager, the Distinguished Flying Cross at PMA-290’s family day celebration on June 25 in recognition of his extraordinary achievement during aerial flight.

"I am honored and very appreciative of this award but I was just doing my job," said Carlson, the self-described average American. "I was doing what they pay me to do – I was aviating, navigating and communicating."

The incident Carlson was honored for happened January 9, 2002 over the North Arabian Sea. At the time, he was the commanding officer of Sea Control Squadron 32 (VS-32) and was deployed onboard USS Theodore Roosevelt in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. His flight that moonless night began as hundreds of routine refueling missions had before but ended unlike any other.

Carlson and his naval flight officer Lt. j.g. Tim Gantz catapulted from the deck of the Roosevelt at 7 p.m. and returned 20 minutes later - about an hour sooner than planned. As they approached 14,000 feet, Carlson was alerted by the number 1 bleed leak light followed by the number 2 bleed leak light, indicating an environmental control system compartment fire.

"At first, I wasn’t that concerned," Carlson said.

"At this point in my career with no serious incidents before, things had become routine and I had almost lost track of the dangers of this business. When the smoke started rolling in, it got my attention real fast."

The fire caused the loss of the main hydraulic system and nearly all flight-related electrical systems. Smoke and fumes filled the cockpit preventing Carlson from seeing Gantz sitting just two feet to his right. Carlson was able to get out one radio transmission to the ship before all communication was lost. The landing gear would not go down, the flaps were not responding and Carlson saw no light on the horizon. The thought of ejecting crossed his mind.

"I didn’t really want to get out," said Carlson, who knew there was no guarantee that they would be found under those circumstances.

Under the pitch-dark skies off the coast of Pakistan, Carlson somehow managed to visually locate the Roosevelt but did a wave-off on his first approach because he wasn’t comfortable with the landing gear indications. Without being able to slow the S-3 down for the landing, Carlson approached the deck again at 185 mph -- about 60 mph more than usual -- and performed a no-flap, visual landing with no radio communication while on fire. As he caught the third wire, the right main and nose landing gear collapsed on impact. The right fuel tank caught fire once it made contact with the carrier deck and the aircraft skidded to rest on its side in flames. As Carlson and Gantz exited the S-3 through its emergency hatch, the aircraft was doused with water and foam by the ship’s firefighters.

"He did an incredible job landing that aircraft that night," Gantz said. "What he did was above and beyond the call of duty and I have nothing but respect and admiration for him as a person and as a pilot."

It was a bone-jarring landing but Carlson and Gantz walked away with little more than a few cuts and bruises. Some members of Carlson’s squadron said divine intervention played a part in keeping those two alive that night.

Looking back, there were signs that Carlson was there for a reason. Months after the mishap, another officer relayed to Carlson his observations: Carlson was supposed to have been relieved of his command two months earlier but was extended because of operational necessity. He was originally scheduled for a day flight on January 9 but personally requested a night flight. And, there were two other airplanes launching at that time that he could have easily been assigned to, and his NFO that night was a former minister.

"When I took command of VS-32, my only wish was that everyone in the squadron came home," Carlson said. "I guess unknowingly I was making that come true."

Carlson said he could not explain why things happened as they did. But, he did say that his 20 years of naval training and experience got him through the most dangerous and life-threatening situation in his career. Carlson has logged more than 4,200 flight hours in the S-3 and has made 800 arrested landings at sea.

"I have a lot of pride in my work," said Carlson, who from a small town in Michigan came to the Navy by earning an ROTC scholarship. "I strive to be the best that I can be in everything I do. I worked hard for 20 years and learned my stuff."

Carlson is the only S-3 pilot to be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and with that aircraft entering the sundown of its service life, he may be the only S-3 pilot in history to receive this distinction.

This is what we all train and prepare for but the way I got this award is not something I want someone else to go through," he said.

Carlson was back in the air after taking just one day off from flying. He flew two times a day for four days before requesting the same flight at the same time with the same NFO.

"I had some reservations," Carlson said, "but I knew I had to get over that."

After returning from that deployment, Carlson’s shore duty assignment brought him, his wife and three kids to St. Mary’s County where he now works for NAVAIR. Surprisingly, little has changed in his life since that 20-minute flight over the Arabian Sea.

"I know a lot of people who have gone through life-threatening situations and they have made significant changes in their lives," Carlson said. "I haven’t done anything extreme but I do enjoy the little things in life more."
 
[Thanks to Renee Hatcher, PEO(A) Public Affairs --ed.]

FMI: www.navy.mil