U.S. Dept. of Air Force - Travis AFB - Safety oOfice

An employee was helping to manually move two helicopters that were being shipped as cargo. Once the helicopters arrived at the staging area, the load team started the process of lowering the helicopters landing skids to the ground by disengaging the ground handling wheels. The injured employee removed a safety pin to disengage the wheels when the wheel rotation bar slipped from another employee's hand and struck him in the head, partially severing his left ear. He then fell back, striking his head. He was hospitalized with a skull fracture and a brain bleed.