CC177704 Globemaster III - Epilogue

The incident occurred during a routine Bird Nest Check of a CC177 Globemaster III at 8 Wing Trenton. The aircraft was scheduled to fly a strategic airlift flight with a routine load.

At the time of the incident there were three separate teams working in and around the aircraft. The aircrew were conducting pre‑flight checks, an Air Movements team was completing the loading of the aircraft and two technicians were conducting a Bird Nest Check before the departure.

The Air Movements team initiated the opening of the main cargo door by powering the utility hydraulic system while a technician was conducting the Bird Nest Check near the elevator in a boom lift vehicle. The Air Movements team member applied power on the utility hydraulic system without knowledge that two technicians were conducting the inspection. The technician in the boom lift quickly removed their hands from the elevator hinge where they had been extracting a bird nest. After the incident all members were notified of the inspection and the pre-flight duties continued without further incident.

The aircraft sustained no damage and no personnel injuries occurred, however the potential for serious injury was of concern.

The investigation determined that safety features built into the hydraulic systems prevent the flight controls from moving when hydraulics are activated from the forward or aft Loadmaster stations. It also found that there were no technical issues with the aircraft and that human factors were causal to the incident. Due to a deviation from the work instruction by the technician, no Bird Nest Check placards were placed on any of the three hydraulic control panels. It was also found that the Air Movements Load Specialist training was deficient in checklist procedures when activating hydraulic systems on the CC177.

Preventative measures recommended were to improve technicians training of the Bird Nest Check and amend the CC177 Load Specialist Checklist.

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