Supermanning?

Helicopter crewman died in ''Supermanning'' stunt, Navy says

By JACK DORSEY, The Virginian-Pilot
© December 22, 2005 | Last updated 11:20 PM Dec. 22


NORFOLK - The Navy said Thursday a Texas-based helicopter crewman who
fell to his death in October was performing a stunt called
"Supermanning."

The stunt involved hanging from an open cargo door and letting the
rushing wind "fly" his body, attached only by a safety belt.

Supermanning may have been in practice for as long as 10 years,
according to the Norfolk-based admiral who oversaw an investigation
into the crewman's death. Senior officers, however, said they'd
never heard of the stunt.

Rear Adm. Denby H. Starling II, commander of the Atlantic Fleet Naval
Air Force, said he has disciplined eight other crew members from the
Corpus Christi squadron for performing a similar stunt or failing to
report the activity to superiors.

The stunt involved an MH-53 Sea Dragon helicopter such as this one.
U.S. NAVY

"My initial reaction was that I was absolutely flabbergasted,"
Starling said in a recent interview. "I figured this had to be a
one-time deal, but when we asked questions, we found out it was not.
Other guys in this squadron had engaged in this kind of activity as
well."

Starling, who's been in naval aviation for 30 years, said he'd
never heard of Supermanning and said he believes this was the first
time someone died during the stunt.

"I am not sure we will ever be able to determine every single
instance," the admiral said, but "we certainly will be willing to
hold anybody accountable" who knew about the activity.

Petty Officer 2nd C lass Aviation Brian K. Joplin, 32, an aviation
machinist's mate from Hugo, Okla., died Oct. 4 after falling about
125 feet to the Persian Gulf. He was assigned to Helicopter Mine
Countermeasures Squadron 15 and was flying from Bahrain in an MH-53 Sea
Dragon helicopter, the largest in the Navy's inventory.

The two pilots were unaware of the stunt until just before Joplin fell,
according to the investigation.

The general indications are the air crews who engaged in Supermanning
"had been around long enough to know this was done when flights
involved carrying cargo," Starling said. "The pilots can't see
all the way back when cargo is stacked up ... and my general impression
is the sailors went to significant extremes to hide it from the
pilots."

Two other enlisted crew members in the back of the helicopter knew what
Joplin was doing and were among those disciplined last week, according
to the admiral. The Navy declined to detail their punishments.

Joplin was wearing a 10-foot-long safety belt and attached it to an
eyelet on the helicopter's stern ramp, according to the investigation
report, obtained Thursday by The Virginian-Pilot through a Freedom of
Information Act request.

In reconstructing the events, investigators said Joplin moved to the
back of the helicopter and lowered himself by his gunner's belt over
the edge of the ramp, grabbing a tie-down ring with his left hand and a
rib of the airframe with his right hand.

"His legs were flying out behind him horizontally" in "the
Superman maneuver," the report said.

One enlisted crew member took photos of Joplin using her cell phone
camera. She and another crew member apparently saw Joplin lose his grip
and tried to pull him back into the aircraft but couldn't because the
rushing air was pulling on him.

Meanwhile, the pilots were just discovering what was going on.

"The co-pilot in the left seat noticed in his ... mirror, a pair of
boots dangling below the back of the aircraft," the report said. The
co-pilot then nudged the pilot in the right seat to get his attention
and point out what he saw, according to the report.

The pilot looked in the mirror and thought he saw Joplin sitting on the
ramp - not floating outside and below it - and did not think much
of it since he presumed Joplin was attached to the aircraft with his
gunner's belt.

The co-pilot asked the other crew members by radio if everything was OK
and was told it was, according to the report.

But then crew members saw Joplin's belt start to slip and still could
not get him inside the helicopter.

They told the pilot to slow down immediately and lower altitude.

"The co-pilot aggressively decelerated and descended," the report
said.

But it was too late. Almost immediately, one of the crew members said,
Joplin had fallen. It was 11:23 a.m., and the aircraft was flying at
125 feet and 35 knots.

Joplin's gunner's belt, which was tight around his waist,
apparently rose up his body, compressing his chest. Investigators
believe that caused him to lose consciousness. With his hands stretched
above his head, the belt slipped past his shoulders, knocked off his
helmet and came free, causing Joplin to fall.

His body was found about four hours later.

Starling said he is not certain how long Supermanning has been
practiced.

"It becomes difficult to separate fact from urban legend," he said.
"I know for a fact, in this command, the cases I was able to document
went back to 2004. We have heard other testimony, much of it anecdotal,
that indicates this has gone on to some degree since probably the
mid-'90 s."

Four air crew members in the squadron admitted to performing the
Superman maneuver in the past, according to the report.

"Between 1994 and 1995, the practice of stunts in flight was
prevalent," the investigators said. "Other maneuvers were the
'slide for life,' where they would swing out on a safety line and
'slingshot' back into the aircraft."

While it would be incorrect to call the stunts widespread, it was
"not uncommon," Starling said.

When he learned Supermanning was taking place in HM-15's squadron,
Starling immediately went to the Texas base to convene an Admiral's
Mast, an administrative hearing to discipline offenders without the
more formal courts martial.

Those who admitted participating in the stunts, or who knew of the
activities but failed to report them, were disciplined Dec. 16 .

Those involved were seven men and one woman, Starling said, ranging in
rates from petty officer third class to petty officer first class.

Starling said he is allowed under mast to demote, fine, forfeit pay and
restrict sailors, and he indicated, without details, that is what he
did.

He also stripped them of their air crew designations, meaning they will
never fly as aircraft crew members again. They were, however, allowed
to remain in the Navy and in the squadron.

The disciplined sailors all had considerable experience, and some had
been chosen as "sailors of the quarter" in the squadron.

"For the most part, they were not the folks you would expect to see
doing this," Starling said.

Joplin lived in Corpus Christi, Texas , with his wife and two young
daughters. His mother and one of his sisters were killed just before
his death in a car crash in Ada, Okla. He also is survived by two
brothers, a sister and his father.

Navy officials notified the family of the investigation's findings
Thursday after Starling officially completed the investigation. T he
commanding officer of HM-15 flew to their home to present the
conclusions to them.

Joplin's death was ruled as occurring in the line of duty.

The report recommended, among other things, an official prohibition
against performing unsafe maneuvers in the back of naval aircraft.

There currently is nothing expressly banning Supermanning.