Couch still wasn't content to allow the flight to continue. He recommended returning to the line and asking QA reps to help troubleshoot the sound. On the ground, after removing the transmission's access panels, the whole crew could hear a grinding sound. Had this condition not been found, the disintegrating gears would have caused an in-flight emergency when the transmission failed. Recovering a squadron aircraft, AE3 Laviska saw that the starboard brake was hot enough to burn or explode.
Emergency procedures call for motoring an engine so the prop wash can cool the hot brake.
While AE3 Laviska was signaling to the aircrew in the flight station about the hot brake, the rest of the flight crew was conducting an emergency-evacuation drill, exiting over the starboard wing, and into the danger area around the hot brake. AE3 Laviska ran to clear the evacuating crew away from the danger, and was back within seconds in front of the aircraft, signaling the pilots to motor No. 3 engine. The pilot couldn't motor the engine because a fuselage bleed-air valve was stuck closed. AE3 Laviska notified maintenance control to contact the crash crew, who quickly responded and handled the emergency. Moving a Herc in Brunswick, Maine, in January is never easy.