Teamwork, training and the durability of the C-17 Globemaster III are what got a McChord Air Force Base, Wash., aircraft safely on the ground after it was attacked by hostile forces over Baghdad International Airport, Iraq, in December 2003.

Capt. Paul Sonstein, then a pilot in the 62nd Airlift Wing at McChord and now with the 446th Reserve AW at McChord explained what happened when the number two engine on his C-17 exploded shortly after take-off at the Baghdad airport. An Air Mobility Command (AMC) investigation team determined hostile action caused the catastrophic explosion.

“The impact just shuddered the plane,” said Sonstein, “I thought we were hit by something. I didn’t know what, but I knew something got us.”

The crew immediately started their checklist, shutting down the engine and planning their return to the airport. With Sonstein flying the plane, 1st Lt. Andrew Oiland, the co-pilot that day also from the 62nd AW, ran the checklist and worked the radio. Behind him sat another 62nd AW pilot, Capt. Anne Lueck, who watched over the cockpit to ensure nothing was missed. Tech. Sgt. Jim Alexander, a loadmaster with the 446th AW here, sat in the jumpseat behind Sonstein and had the best view of the engine.

With Alexander scanning the engine and monitoring the fire, the C-17’s other on-board loadmaster and fellow 446th Reservist, Staff Sgt. Eric Olson, was downstairs taking care of the passengers and coordinated everyone’s escape once they landed. Everyone doing their assigned job and working together as a team helped get the aircraft safely on the ground.

The air crew’s simulator training, in which pilots regularly practice landing with an engine out, proved invaluable according to Sonstein. He had to land the C-17 with only his standby instruments. Despite being the first time to ever land the aircraft without the benefit of the Heads-Up Display, he did so safely.

“It felt and handled no different than a four-engine approach,” he said, referring to how the aircraft flew as he circled back to the airport. “It was nothing different because I was so used to the simulator,” Sonstein said.

The performance of the five crew members that day earned them Air Medals, which were presented by Vice President Dick Cheney.

The C-17 Aircrew Training System (ATS) which Captain Sonstein and his crew trained on is a Boeing-developed, operated, and supported ground-based training system for C-17 air crews (pilots and loadmasters) and maintenance technicians. The program provides academic, air crew training, flight, and other training required to maintain the guaranteed student concept for C-17 air crews. The guaranteed student concept means qualified air crews are guaranteed under the contract to pass a U.S. Air Force-conducted flight evaluation.

According to Keith Hertzenberg, vice president and general manager of Boeing’s Training Systems & Services (TSS), a part of the Boeing Logistics Support Systems business, in 2004 TSS provided training to more than 675 pilot and loadmaster students through formal course instruction and conducted more than 6,000 continuation-training courses at main operating bases. He pointed out that while the contract requires a 95 percent availability rate, TSS’ overall device maintenance availability rate was 99.3 percent. He said TSS also coordinated evaluation of 420 C-17 aircraft changes for impacts to air crew training system this year, and that all training programs affected by aircraft changes were completed prior to the first aircraft delivery, providing the AMC training program with full aircraft concurrency.