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Airman receives top safety award

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Lauren Johnson
  • 1st SOW Public Affairs
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. --  An Airman from the 20th Special Operations Squadron was recently honored with one of the Air Force's top safety awards.

Lt. Col. Eugene Becker received the Koren Kolligian, Jr., Trophy for saving the lives of seven crewmembers on an MH-53 PAVE LOW helicopter that crashed Sept. 7, 2007.

Colonel Becker and his crew were on a night tactical training mission, hovering over a forest of 90-foot trees, when his aircraft suddenly began vibrating.

"I think the whole crew sensed that something was very wrong," Colonel Becker said. "We all knew that we didn't have much time to get the aircraft down before it catastrophically failed."

Thankfully, training kicked in.

"Everyone immediately started working the emergency by doing what their crew position called for," Colonel Becker said.

Colonel Becker executed emergency procedures, made two "mayday" calls and assessed the situation.

The PAVE LOW was suffering an intermediate gear box failure. The helicopter's RPM dropped to 70-80 percent; too slow to keep the aircraft flying.

The crew had one chance, and little time, to bring the MH-53 safely into a small landing zone cut out of the trees.

"It really was a race against the clock," Colonel Becker said.

Colonel Becker eased the helicopter over the landing zone. Just as he reached his target, the aircraft gave out. The PAVE LOW descended quickly toward the ground 150 feet below, flung violently to the right, and hit the ground.

According to the award nomination, a landing any more forceful could have been fatal.

On the ground, Colonel Becker took accountability of his crew and coordinated joint rescue efforts. Within minutes, an AC-130H Spooky Gunship was over the scene. Civilian helicopter crews evacuated injured personnel, and civilian and military, medical and police forces secured the site and transported crewmembers to the hospital.

"I was one of the first safety personnel on the scene of the [MH-53 crash,] and it was obvious that without Lt. Col. Becker's actions, there would have been fatalities,"
said Lt. Col. Daniel Murray, 1st Special Operations Wing Safety chief at the time of the crash. "Thankfully, due to his exceptional skill and training all crewmembers were able to walk away from the accident."

Colonel Becker has been in the Air Force 17 years and logged 4,600 hours flying helicopters, and he said this incident was the first significant emergency he has experienced. He credits the crew for their professionalism and teamwork.

"To receive an award recognizing a crew's ability to handle a catastrophic emergency is awesome," he said.

In addition to Colonel Becker's Kolligian award, the 1st SOW also received honors in several other categories. Air Force Safety Plaque flight awards were presented to the 4th Special Operations Squadron and 15th Special Operations Squadron, and the 1st Special Operations Wing was honored with Air Force Safety Plaques for ground and explosives, category one.

"All five awards the Wing won show the great dedication of our Air Commandos and are further validation of the outstanding work 1 SOW personnel are doing on a day to day basis," Colonel Murray said.