Members participate in KC-135 egress exercise

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Stephenie Wade
  • 375th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (AFNS) --  More than 60 members here volunteered to slide down a large, air-filled slide, or in this case, an emergency exit, June 28, during a KC-135 Stratotanker ground egress test supported by the 126th Air Refueling Wing.

The AMC-directed test was used to determine the number of passengers one passenger monitor can safely egress, or evacuate, from an aircraft in 90 seconds, said Col. Thomas Wolcott, the Air Mobility Command test and evaluation director.

According to Capt. Doug Steinert, from the AMC Test and Evaluation Squadron at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., this is the first time AMC has conducted an egress test on a KC-135.

"We've been asked to conduct this test to see if we can increase the amount of passengers that can go space A," Steinert said.

In addition to passengers and cargo, a flight team was also onboard.

"We set up the test with the basic operators: two pilots and one boom operator," Steinert said.

During the tests, the plane was configured differently each time with cargo along with 27 to 54 passengers. This changed the number of egress sites available.

The more cargo loaded on the plane, the more challenging an egress is, officials said, as cargo reduces the number of egress sites available.

The test results and completed surveys will provide data to support passenger handling policy changes for the KC-135.