Chief Warrant Officer 2 Gene Tidwell, Troop B, 1st Squadron, 17th Cavalry test pilot, addresses the audience during the Broken Wing award presentation at the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, April 29. The award recognizes an individual who demonstrates a high degree of professional skill while recovering from an in-flight failure or malfunction requiring an emergency landing. Tidwell earned the award as a result of his actions on March 24, 2011, when, despite engine failure, he turned his OH-58D Kiowa Warrior Helicopter into the wind and completed autorotation, landing the aircraft upright in a grass field. His actions preserved the crash-worthiness of the aircraft and ensured survival of the occupants.
Capt. Beth Riordan
Taken on 29 April 2014
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