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Deployed crews practice emergency-landing response

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Denise Johnson
  • 380th AEW Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  The 380th Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron took a proactive approach to conducting barrier inspections here Nov. 19.

The 380th Air Expeditionary Wing's barriers, used during fighter-jet emergency landings and departures, were nearing their annual certification date in January 2009.

The annual cable engagement certification typically requires bringing some type of fighter airframe to the base because although the 380th AEW is home to four different airframes, none of them are fighter jets.

"We were able to take advantage of the presence of some F-15s from (Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.) that were here for a multi-national exercise," said Otto Williams, 380th Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron air traffic manager.

Several agencies coordinated efforts to apply the 380th EOSS team's foresight.

"(Maj. Dave Merritt, 380th EOSS director of operations) and I requested assistance from the 363rd Training Group to engage some of their exercise participants in the certification," explained Mr. Williams, who calls Meridian, Miss. home. "By virtue of having Eglin's fighters on location, it made it much easier than last year when we had to bring a Navy jet in."

The 380th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron's power production and fire and emergency services teams were also enlisted to support the effort. These two flights work hand-in-hand during certifications. Between them, they own the response, operation and maintenance elements.

The crew stretches a cable - known as a pendant - across the runway when they're notified of a mechanical or technical malfunction during a jet's landing or departure.

"These barriers are in place to save lives and avoid potential crash landings," said Tech. Sgt. Joshua Ashton, fire and emergency services station chief and rescue crew chief.

The jet releases an arm with a hook that extends down from behind the landing gear. The hook drags on the ground until the jet reaches the pendant. The pendant stretches the width of the runway where it is then connected to a wide, flat cable resembling a deflated fire hose known as barrier tape.

The hook will snag the pendant as the jet progresses over it. As the pendant extends behind the jet, the barrier tape follows, unwinding off the reels housed in the two Mobile Aircraft Arresting Systems positioned on either side of the runway. The MAAS houses the barrier tape as well as a gasoline-powered engine and the mechanics to engage the reels.

"When the cable is up and there's pre-tension on it - it's held in place by brakes at 175 PSI - when something exceeds the 175 PSI, the brakes come undone and that's how the tape pays out," said Staff Sgt. Michael Tryon, a barrier maintenance technician with the power production shop . "The cam (hydraulic component) spins in the system and as it reaches its apex, the pressure increases which is the stopping force for the aircraft."

Sergeant Tryon, originally from Spanaway, Wa., said he and his coworkers are responsible for maintaining the barriers, including conducting daily, weekly, monthly and annual inspections. The power-pro team checks the inner workings of the MAAS every month by hooking the cable up to a truck, but that doesn't compare to the force of a fighter jet streaming down the runway with no brakes.

"The F-15 provides us the opportunity to put the MAAS to the ultimate test - to make sure the system is operating the way it is designed to," Sergeant Tryon, deployed from Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, said. "The aircraft will stop within 1,200 feet on these systems."

Several units from various bases and backgrounds proved cooperation and flexibility can bring positive results as the certification requirements were met ahead of schedule.

"The key point we all focused on was the fact if the barriers fail, lives could be lost," Sergeant Ashton, deployed from Andrews Air Force Base, Md., said. "The combined efforts provided a safer environment for the pilots and the first responders. Hopefully we will never have to put the barriers to a true test, but we all derive a sense of comfort knowing we've done the best we can to prepare for the potential emergency."