Reserve improves safety, floor space on rescue helicopters

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ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (AFPN) --  Air Force Reserve Command’s 15 combat search and rescue helicopters will get improved crew seats and more cabin space to care for rescued people when modifications are complete this year.

The HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters will feature safer, more ergonomic cabin crew seats, and new auxiliary fuel tanks will add more than 7 square feet of useable cabin space and reduce aircraft gross weight.

“The 305th Rescue Squadron at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., was the first unit in the Air Force to get these new features,” said Mark McUmber, Pave Hawk program manager for AFRC. “We’ve had four kits delivered. The new modifications have been tested for airworthiness, and the next step is to use them in an operational environment.”

A squadron HH-60G received the first modifications in June after a coordinated effort by Reserve maintainers, operators and planners along with contractors, representatives from Air Force Special Operations Command and the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center.

Three of the helicopters will soon use the improved fuel tanks in Afghanistan, officials said. Aircraft maintainers will install the new seats when they receive technical order data.

The search and rescue and special operations communities have desired the modifications for a long time, said Chief Master Sgt. Craig Bergman, 943rd Maintenance Squadron superintendent at Davis-Monthan.

“We were looking for a way to lighten our total load and provide additional cabin space,” he said.

Originally submitted in 2001, the request was not fully acted on until the combat search and rescue mission was turned over to AFSOC and its AFRC counterparts.

“AFSOC didn’t have the funding to perform a fleet-wide modification, but AFRC found a way to do it by using priority funding avenues made available in the war on terrorism,” Mr. McUmber said.

Each modification is a separate action. It takes a few hours to replace the internal auxiliary fuel tank with a slimmer unit in the rear of the helicopter. The new 200-gallon tank fits flush across the back of the crew compartment, freeing up nearly 15 inches of floor space once taken up by the older tank that protruded into the cabin area.

“The 15 extra inches may not seem like much, but to a helicopter crew, the extra space is significant, especially when you’re loaded with equipment or have (pararescuemen) working on the injured back there,” Mr. McUmber said.

Replacing the crew seats is a more involved modification that takes several days to complete. The seat modification will begin in earnest once technical order data is distributed to the field. By the end of the year, all of the command’s HH-60s will be equipped with the new seats, AFRC officials said.

Maj. Pete Kern called the aircrew seat modification a flight safety improvement.

“The improved cabin seating increases aircrew survivability by reducing injury in hard landings,” said the 10th Air Force combat search and rescue special operations officer at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas. “The new seat allows easier access to the cabin and crew-served weapons, and it reduces aircrew fatigue on extended missions.”

Senior Master Sgt. Mike Flake, 305th RQS, is the lead flight engineer for the seat replacement project.

The sergeant survived a helicopter crash in 1994 and said he knows the value of improved seating. He was standing in the door during a canyon rescue when the chopper crashed. Both seats broke off the floor mounts.

“I always thought we could use better seats,” he said. “The current seats aren’t adjustable and are uncomfortable. They really tire you out, especially on a long mission. This new seat adjusts up and down and fore and aft so you can sit exactly how you want for hoisting or scanning.”

And for others, it’s the added comfort that they look forward to, Sergeant Flake said.

“Flight engineers and gunners have wanted a better seat for a long time,” he said. “(AFRC was) able to get it done.” (Courtesy of AFRC News Service)