Mackay Trophy awarded for 2013

The National Aeronautic Association (NAA) in the US recently presented the 2013 Mackay Trophy – awarded by the NAA and US Air Force (USAF) for the ‘most meritorious flight of the year’ by USAF personnel – to the crews of Rooster 73 Flight (Rooster 73, Rooster 74, and Rooster 75) for their actions in South Sudan at the end of last year. The US State Department’s embassy in the country, which was on the brink of civil war at the time, needed to be evacuated because of rising tension, and a trio of CV-22 Ospreys with 21 personnel from the USAF 8th Special Operations Squadron onboard were dispatched from Djibouti International Airport to the site of the embassy in Bor. The aircraft received heavy fire as they approached, with multiple systems being damaged and several of those onboard suffering injuries. Multiple fuel leaks occurred, necessitating emergency airborne refuelling, and during the return flight crew members were required to manually extend refuelling probes so that they could take on sufficient fuel to reach their destination, Entebbe. A ‘mobile blood bank’ had also been set up to bring transfusions to the critically injured.

According to the NAA, ‘the time critical decision making, outstanding airmanship, extraordinary crew resource management and exceptional attention to detail of Rooster 73 Flight saved 34 aircrew and three $89-million aircraft’. “The distinctive accomplishments of the crews of Rooster 73, Rooster 74 and Rooster 75 reflect great credit upon themselves and the US Air Force,” the organisation added.

Speaking about the mission, Major Benjamin Fingarson, commander of the third CV-22, recalled: “On the initial approach, the formation came under heavy fire from heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire. I couldn’t tell immediately if we’d come under fire, but I knew I had to manoeuvre the aircraft out of the weapons engagement zone. I took swift corrective actions to make the aircraft as unpredictable as possible in order to make it difficult for gunfire to hit us. [Later] because of the severity of the damage to the aircraft and multiple fuel leaks, we determined we would have to co-ordinate multiple air-to-air refuellings.” Fingarson added: “One moment that will always stick with me was a special forces member approaching me a few months after the flight and asking if I was the aircraft commander of the flight he was on. I nodded yes. He told me, as he heard the rounds hitting the aircraft, he felt me manoeuvre the Osprey in ways he didn’t know were possible. He told me I saved his life.”