Working on the "roof" comes with its own shopping list of dangers. Anytime one of us set foot on the nonskid of the flightdeck - given the right circumstances - there was the very real possibility that we could end up being carried belowdecks in a Stokes, or worse, lost at sea.

The Navy did what they could to reduce possible injuries and fatalities with training, safety lectures, and what practical safety devices as could be employed in such an environment. During Flight Quarters, only the necessary personnel were supposed to be on the deck, and they were required to have the proper safety equipment: cranial headgear with built-in hearing protectors, goggles, long-sleeved cotton knit jerseys, a CO2-inflatible life vest (with signal light for night ops), heavy cotton dungaree or BDU pants, and steel-toed safety boots.

Around much of the length of the deck are "catwalks" - railed walkways only a few feet wide, about five feet below the edge of the flight deck and with access ladders into the 03 level; in areas with no catwalk, such as on the aircraft elevators, there were steel mesh safety nets that extended outward about 10-12 feet from the edge of the deck. Beyond the catwalk railing and nets was a 65 foot drop to a lot of salty water.

During the man-up for a launch, one of our birds developed a problem requiring one of our Riggers (Aircrew Survival Equipmentmen) to come up and check it out. The job wasn't finished by the time the Start Engines call was made, but he stuck with it - after all, he was experienced, dressed for the roof, and wasn't worried. He wrapped up, counted and pouched his tools, and started making his way to the catwalk as quickly and safely as he could. Just then, an adjacent running jet was directed to pull forward from the parking line and turn, catching the Rigger with the jet blast before he could grab anything solid.

The Rigger was knocked off his feet, blown across the deck-edge net, and started his fall. His drop to the Atlantic was abruptly halted when he impacted the Boat and Aircraft Crane, breaking his collarbone in the process. Not content to rest on his hard-won luck, he bounced off the crane's structure and landed on the crane's base sponson at the hanger-deck level, breaking both legs - but 35 feet above the water, on a small "porch" on the ship's side. He was in severe pain, but at least he was dry - and the Corpsmen got to him in record time.

I caught up with the Rigger a week after the accident and he told me all about it. He capped his adventure off with, "You know, I'm one lucky b******. If I'd gone in the water, there's no way in H*ll I could've popped the jacket bottles with a broken collarbone."

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"Any technology, no matter how primitive, is magic to those who don't understand it." - Florence Ambrose