Uptight: Aircrew flight equipment no-fail mission packs tight punch

Published Nov. 6, 2012
By Staff Sgt. Kirsten Wicker
325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Imagine piloting a jet that can reach speeds up to Mach 2, weighs 43,340 pounds and has a thrust capacity of 35,000 pounds per engine. Suddenly, the panel lights up in warning and the aircraft begins to lose altitude. When all attempts to recover the jet fail, the only thing left to do is pull the ejection handle and trust that what happens next will save a life.

While the majority of pilots will never experience their flight and survival equipment at work, it is still the number one task of the Airmen who inspect it, pack it and prepare it, that it works, first time, every time.

"The important thing to remember about those who not only pack the chutes, but also everyone who cares for the equipment - they don't do the job to get recognized," said Lt. Col. David O'Malley, 325th Operations Support Squadron commander. "They do the job so well so that pilots who find themselves in this situation, can know without hesitation when they pull that handle, it will work. It has to."

Since 1996, the survival equipment shop here has been diligently packing flight survival necessities such as parachutes and masks with painstaking attention, ensuring a pilot's safety and survival should something happen in flight that would require its use.

"In 2003, I experienced an engine failure in an F-16 [Viper] during a training mission over the Goldwater Range Complex in Arizona," Colonel O'Malley said. "The only place I had to go was out of the aircraft. Pulling the ejection handle, I was not concerned or afraid at all about my equipment - about whether it would work - it was actually the furthest thing from my mind.

"I was still trying to figure out what happened to the jet in that moment. And that speaks volumes about the work these Airmen do. We [as pilots] have complete confidence that every step and every line they go through to pack that chute in tight, they're going to do it right the first time," the colonel said.

With nearly a century of experience between them, civilian contractors poured their expertise into the job, performing any day-to-day duties, inspecting and packing parachutes and ejection seats and providing pilots with all the assurance their gear will not fail them.

"October 1996 was the last time an active duty Airman inspected a chute on Tyndall. In 2008, survival equipment and life support merged to create one career field. The majority of bases had been contracting out the survival equipment jobs to civilians, so those Airmen in the life support career field never received the training in survival equipment," said Master Sgt. Benito Saenz, 325th OSS aircrew flight equipment superintendent.

With the transition to Air Combat Command, active-duty Airmen now fill the roles civilian contractors once filled in the survival equipment shop, only now with the blending of the life support career field, it is known as aircrew flight equipment.

"So with the transition to ACC, we knew the contractors would be leaving, so that left our life support Airmen to do this job," Sergeant Saenz said. "Now, we are doing it. We were able to receive training support from the 33rd Operations Support Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. We had to not only learn the chutes themselves, but also how to make repairs using the sewing machines. We also had to learn how to maintain and repair the G-suit garment."

The Air Force defines an aircrew flight equipment specialist as an Airman who inspects, maintains, packs and adjusts aircrew flight equipment such as flight helmets, oxygen masks, parachutes, flotation devices, survival kits, helmet-mounted devices, aircrew night vision, anti-G garments, aircrew eye and respiratory protective equipment and chemical biological protective masks and coverings.

"For a lot of years, we've had some outstanding civilians doing this job, so this is new to us, but it's not new to the Air Force," said Colonel O'Malley. "So that's where it was a concerted effort to find the right Airmen who have vast experience and then take some of our folks and get them the training they need so that we were ready to accept the mission from the contractor without any interruption to flight operations and without any concerns about the quality of the product."

The T-38 Talon and F-22 Raptor require a different parachute and sometimes carry more than one type, such as a drag chute, which, when deployed, slows down the rate the ejection seat is moving so the pilot is not jerked upwards at such a force that would cause whiplash. The chutes also have a water-activated function that releases the chute from the pilot when submerged in water, so the pilot cannot be drug under water and drowned.

"The canopy has about 28 feet of material, and four different colors, green, white, orange, and tan, that can be used depending on the environment a pilot lands in," said Airman 1st Class Tomas Mitchell, 325th OSS aircrew flight equipment specialist. "These parachutes are for either the T-38, which uses a backpack chute, or the F-22, which uses a chute prepositioned in the seat. These are very different than what parajumpers use, which are purpose-deployed."

Airmen here must carefully inspect and pack 33 chutes on an annual basis, Airman Mitchell said.

It can take up to five hours to pack one chute, not including the time it takes to inspect it prior to packing. Inspections are completed in three parts: the risers, chute and lines, the canopy and the packing and rigging.

"We have to ensure the chute is folded two directions so there is an air channel created as it passes through the folds, so when it opens the air channel will catch and it will open properly," Staff Sgt. Joshua Nelson, 325th OSS aircrew flight equipment specialist said. "The pre-pack consists of folding it and packing it in the can [seat container], then rigging and stowing of the lines - the most important part - because that can cause bag lock if it's not right."

Bag lock occurs when the deployment bag is extracted from the main container but fails to release the canopy within.

"Bag lock happens more with the chutes jumpers use. Rigging is time consuming, but it's important," he said. "We also have to get the static electricity and humidity out of it."

The task generally requires two Airmen to complete the folding and packing. An Airman with a higher skill level then inspects the job, so there is only one chance to get it right.

"With us just coming in to this part of the career field, it's really important to follow instructions, line by line, and then have someone with more experience check it," Sergeant Nelson said.

While the task of inspecting, packing and maintaining such important equipment is painstaking and tedious, Airmen take pride in their work knowing it will be there when a pilot needs it.

"We haven't had anyone here have to use it [the parachute] yet," Airman Mitchell said, smiling.

"We take pride in our work, and pilots do remind us that they're glad they don't have to worry about this when they go up because they know we're going to do it right and pack it tight," Sergeant Nelson added.