Airman's vigilance prevents aircraft mishap

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Richard Williams
  • 455th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFNS) --  Airmen from the 455th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron aborted an F-15E Strike Eagle mission minutes before takeoff March 12 here when a crew chief noticed an oddity with the flight controls of an aircraft.

Staff Sgt. Justin Wilson, a 494th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Unit crew chief, was watching two taxiing F-15Es at about 11:30 p.m. local time and saw something peculiar as the second aircraft proceeded to the end of runway area to complete preflight preparations.

"We were watching them taxi and I noticed when the second jet made its turn the left rudder was fully deflected to the right and the right rudder was perfectly straight after it made the turn," said Sergeant Wilson, who is deployed from Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England. "I knew that the pilots were not actually making this happen and something must be wrong."

Sergeant Wilson, a native of Malone, N.Y., explained the rudders on the tail fins of the F-15E work in a simultaneous motion when the pilot depresses the pedal to adjust for in-flight stabilization. For them to not move in this manner could cause issues during takeoff and in flight.

After seeing the potential broken jet at the end of runway area receiving final preparations for takeoff, Sergeant Wilson ran to the area to inform the crew of the problem and advise them to send the jet back to its parking area.

"As crew chiefs we are constantly looking for these malfunctions when we are going through our preflight inspections," Sergeant Wilson said. "When we launch aircraft we perform a built-in test with the aircrafts internal computer check to make sure everything is working as it should, and the crew completed that test."

Sergeant Wilson explained after the jet was launched from its parking spot, the internal controls broke and the malfunction in this case did not occur until the aircraft made a turn on the ground.

"It was a team effort and I was just doing my job," Sergeant Wilson added. "You see something out of the ordinary or wrong and you go out there and fix it."

"This incident could have definitely caused some problems for the aircraft and crew," said Master Sgt. Jason Bruder, the 494th AMU section chief. "This just shows that our guys are out there to get the mission accomplished. Sergeant Wilson wasn't a part of that launch, was paying attention, and saw the break and took action and all of our crew chiefs are all like that."

Sergeant Bruder, also deployed from RAF Lakenheath, pointed out the overall team effort that goes into getting the jets ready and the vigilance that goes into sortie production. In this case, the crew chiefs' vigilance potentially saved the lives of the pilots and millions of dollars in equipment.

"We are always looking out for each other and making sure the job gets done right," added Sergeant Bruder, a native of Long Prairie, Minn.

"I think what every crew chief out here does day in and day out is extremely important to mission success," Sergeant Wilson said. "If we don't do our job well then the aircrew may not have a safe jet to fly and when they are in the air something bad could happen."

He added, that the No. 1 goal of the 494th AMU crew chief is to launch the aircraft and do everything in their power to ensure the jets come back safe.