Safety moment: Blue-on-blue

As the 40 year anniversary of the Falklands conflict passes us by; memories come to the fore of the hard lessons learned during the 74 day undeclared war between Argentina and the UK. One tragic example was when a Royal Navy Type 42 destroyer mistakenly engaged a British Army Gazelle in a friendly fire incident, resulting in the death of all four personnel onboard.

The navy's destroyer was tasked with a dual mission which involved providing fire support for the Royal Marines and searching for enemy aircraft. During the mission, a radar contact was made with what was thought to be a hostile target and so a Sea Dart missile was sent to intercept. The wreckage of the Army's Gazelle helicopter was recovered the next day.

The subsequent investigation identified several factors that allowed the event to occur. Poor communication had meant a) the navy's destroyer was unaware of the army helicopter flight path and b) the army helicopter was unaware the navy destroyer had redeployed to ambush enemy aircraft. Also, the helicopter's friend/ foe system was disabled to prevent interference with other military technology (specifically, Rapier surface-to-air missiles).

I would suggest this safety moment would be particularly valuable within an operational environment that involves multiple service providers. It would highlight the vital role of planning, communication, and the interface management of people/ processes/ technology.

As a last note: after the conflict a memorial cross was built on Pleasant Peak. A '205' was painted in 40m wide numbers at the crash site by the soldiers of 205 Signal Squadron. RIP.