Ep. 282 Surviving the Crash: CDR AJ Edwards on Mishaps, Investigations, and Bouncing Back
Ready 4 Pushback
Nik Fialka
4.8 • 716 Ratings
🗓️ 22 September 2025
⏱️ 58 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What happens when the unthinkable happens—and you crash an aircraft? For most pilots, it’s the nightmare scenario we hope we’ll never face. But for CDR AJ Edwards, U.S. Navy, it became reality.
In this special extended episode, AJ takes us through the full journey: from the day of his helicopter mishap, to the intense investigations that followed, and ultimately, to how he rebuilt both his career and his confidence.
Here’s what you’ll hear in this episode:
The Mishap – A 2015 training flight that ended in a helicopter rollover.
The Process – How military safety and FNAEB investigations unfold.
The Verdict – The Admiral’s decision: probation and loss of quals. The Comeback – Rebuilding trust, confidence, and a flying career.
The Lesson – AJ’s advice for pilots facing mishap investigations.
This conversation is raw, real, and packed with insight into one of the most stressful processes a pilot can go through. Whether you’re military or civilian, there’s wisdom here for anyone who straps into the cockpit. 👉 If you know a pilot going through the aftermath of a mishap, share this episode with them. It might just give them the roadmap they need.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, pilot, welcome back to Ready for Pushback. I'm Nick Fialca. I hope you're having an awesome day today. We have a new guest, AJ Edwards. He is a Navy commander, super cool guy. And we are talking about what it's like to crash an aircraft and what the process is like afterwards. |
| 0:22.7 | It's not very fun. |
| 0:24.0 | I can tell you that. |
| 0:25.1 | It is not very fun. But he reached out to me and offered to talk about this event that happened to him and |
| 0:32.3 | what it was like. |
| 0:34.1 | And I just think that it's important because if you, you never know when something's going to happen, where you're going to have a mishap. |
| 0:45.0 | And if you crash a plane or you roll over a helicopter or whatever, whatever happens, the best case scenario is somebody is that everybody survives, right? |
| 0:56.8 | But when it's done, there is an investigation. |
| 1:00.3 | And if you're military, you go one way. |
| 1:02.2 | If you're a civilian, NTSB handles all that. |
| 1:05.7 | But it's very stressful. |
| 1:07.7 | There's a lot that goes on. |
| 1:08.8 | And AJ was very kind to come on and willing to share it. |
| 1:11.9 | And we talked for about an hour about the whole process. |
| 1:15.0 | If you know somebody that is going through that process, share this with them. |
| 1:20.7 | I think it will be helpful and fruitful. |
| 1:22.8 | A lot of good information in here and a lot of, |
| 1:25.2 | a lot of tips on how to be successful throughout the process, |
| 1:30.2 | right? It was really good. So thank you to AJ for coming on the show. I hope that y'all like it. |
| 1:36.5 | It's going to be very interesting. Okay. So sit back, relax. Let's get ready for pushback. |
| 1:44.0 | It all started as a spark. |
| 1:47.0 | Maybe it was the sound of jets racing across the sky. |
... |
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