Compiled with information from Stephen N. Barber, Quality Assurance Branch

To say that Glenn Schwarz has an eye for detail would be a grand understatement. The quality assurance specialist is standing on a side panel that folds down to provide a small platform on the highest section of an H-46 helicopter. Leaning in close, he peers at a tiny gap – thinner than a dime – between the head of a bolt and a drive arm on the aircraft’s aft upper flight control. Although he was initially checking to ensure that no washers have been put on this part of the helicopter, this thin gap has suddenly caught his attention.

It shouldn’t be there.

Later, after a mechanic has removed the long bolt from the drive arm, a close inspection reveals exactly what Schwarz had suspected. A beveled edge, known as a chamfer, has not been machined into the bushing in which the bolt is seated – one of those round peg in a square hole type of things. Picture it like this: at the place where the bolt’s shaft meets the head of the bolt, there is a very slight taper, which prevents stress at that point of the bolt. On the bushing through which the bolt is seated, there must be a matching factory machined-taper so that the bolt fits perfectly, with no grinding between the two. It is a small thing – but it can lead to big problems.

Subsequent inspections of the other drive arms on the aircraft revealed more of the same. This, in turn, led to an inventory and replacement of many of the bushings in the depot’s and DLA supply system.

Schwarz’s discovery led to his selection as the NADEP Safety Professional of the Month for November. In a separate award, PMA-226 H-46 Program Manager Lt. Col. Mitch Bauman presented him with a $250 On-the-Spot award. “His mindfulness had uncovered a breakdown in the procurement of the bushing,” said Bauman. “His attention to detail is a behavior that is one of the last lines of defense against such
incidences in the depot.”

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Cutline: Glenn Schwarz was named the November Aviation Safety Professional for detecting improperly machined bushings that could have led to catastrophic failure of flight controls on H-46 helicopters. (Photo by Mike Barton)