The Marines of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron-265
(Reinforced), currently attached to the 31st Marine Expeditionary
Unit, celebrated 60,000 flight hours without a Class-A mishap with
an award presentation and cake-cutting ceremony Jan. 5.
A Class-A mishap is any incident that results in death or monetary
damage equal to or more than $1 million, according to Maj. Paul M.
Riegert, director of safety and standardization for HMM-265 (REIN),
also known as the Dragons.
The 15-year journey to 60,000 hours began May 31, 1989 when the
Dragons experienced their last Class-A mishap. Since then, they
have used many methods to prevent mishaps and implement
safety.
One way the Dragons exercise safety is by using Operational Risk
Management (ORM). The five-step ORM process include