By Stephen N. Barber
Quality Assurance Branch Head

Hurlin Sonnier, a quality assurance specialist for the Naval Air Depot Cherry Point H-53 helicopter line, was named as the NADEP Cherry Point Aviation Safety Professional for March. In December, Sonnier was inspecting the installation of main rotor dampeners on one of the aircraft when a very slight movement of a part caught his attention. Sonnier was monitoring as an artisan torqued the number four main rotor head dampener when Sonnier saw the number four sleeve and spindle horizontal hinge pin move. It was only a tiny movement, but Sonnier was sure that none had ever moved before during any of his previous QA checks. Small as it seemed, it was enough to convince him to look into it further.

When Sonnier investigated maintenance records, he found that the hinge pin had been recently replaced. Like high-tech detectives, Sonnier, rotor head shop personnel and examiners and evaluators teamed up to determine that the bore hole of the sleeve and spindle measured outside of safe limits due to normal wear out in the fleet.

According to Capt. Theodore Haskell, the NADEP aviation safety officer, unchecked, this problem could have resulted a catastrophic failure of the assembly leading to possible loss of aircraft and aircrew. Sonnier followed through by verifying that the problem was corrected.

Sonnier has been looking out for H-53 crews and passengers for a long time. He spent eight years in the U.S. Navy working on F-14s, P-3s and A-7s, and then moved to the aviation depot in Pensacola, Fla., in 1986 as an electrician to work on MH-53Js. Sonnier transferred here in the mid ‘90s when NADEP Pensacola closed, and stepped up to Quality Assurance in 1996 to work on H-53s.

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Cutline: Hurlin Sonnier, an H-53 quality assurance specialist, was named the NADEP Cherry Point Aviation Safety Professional for March. Sonnier’s investigation of a very small movement of a helicopter part during maintenance led to the discovery of a potentially huge problem on the aircraft. (Photo by Mike Barton)