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As much as I've enjoyed reading Approach stories over the last few years, my goal was to never write for this publication. My hope in drafting this article is that other aviators might learn a lesson from me and handle their time in the crucible differently.
This tale began in late March with a good deal cross-country with the XO and Ops O. Our Hornet light division took off from Gainesville and headed north. We spent the first half of the flight to Indianapolis dodging weather. As we crossed over Atlanta, we approached another cloud bank, and I began to move closer to my lead. I look inside my cockpit and briefly saw the two L/R BLEED warning lights illuminate. I heard Betty say, "Bleed air left, bleed air left." As quickly as they appeared, the red warning lights went out and the cockpit became much quieter. Then I saw three cautions on my left DDI: L BLEED OFF, R BLEED OFF and OBOGS DEGD.
I've only had several emergency-procedure (EP) sims. In my limited experience handling EPs in the simulator, the warnings came on and stayed on. I knew when a bleed-air leak occurred the bleed-air-leakdetection (BALD) system should shut it down, however; I didn't know the warning lights would go out so suddenly once the leak was isolated. My OBOGS still appeared to be working despite the glaring caution that indicated otherwise.
I then reported to my lead, "I've got a problem here."
I told him that I had momentary bleed-air warning lights, but they had gone out. He then asked if I had inadvertently hit the fire test switch. "Well, maybe I did," I thought. Everything seemed normal, except for the cautions remaining on my DDL It was entirely possible that I accidentally had hit the fire test switch, which would trigger the red warning lights and the aural tones, as well as shut off the bleed-air system. However, after the incident, I remembered that all the lights illuminate with the fire test switch and that Betty always starts with, "Engine fire left."
As I pondered the situation, like a deer staring in the headlights of a semi on 1-95, 1 exhaled and suddenly couldn't breathe. When the OBOGS shut...