When all else fails, egress prevails

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Chawntain Young
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) --  The piercing sound of the terrain alert fills the cockpit. The engine has taken enemy fire, and despite the pilot’s attempts to regain control of the jet, it is on a downward spiral. At this stage, there is only one thing left to do.

While the scenario may not be common here, the possibility of it happening in the area of responsibility is real.

From the time pilots bail out until their feet touch safely on the ground, they rely on a systematic series of events to occur. But, it is not the equipment’s responsibility to ensure everything functions as it should; it is the maintainer’s.

It is a job airmen assigned to the 379th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron egress section take very seriously.

“If a plane goes down, the first thing we are interested in hearing is whether the pilot made it out,” said Airman 1st Class Anthony Allen, 379th EMXS egress systems apprentice. “If he did, we can sleep at night knowing we did our job.”

Maintainers like Airman Allen are charged with ensuring that in each fighter jet the ejection seat, or escape system as they refer to it, deploys without hesitation at the pull of a handle.

“It is just as important as any other [aircraft maintenance] job,” Airman Allen said. “Just like the doctor who performs an operation, we have one chance to get it right.”

But, an egress maintainer’s job is not just limited to ensuring proper installation of the escape system. Because it is so vital and because it contains explosive devices that force the seat to eject when the ejection handle is pulled, all escape systems must be removed, inspected, tested and maintained on a regular basis.

“The egress mission is the same as (that of) any other maintenance shop -- to minimize downtime and keep the airplane in the air,” said Tech. Sgt. Ronald Billings, assistant section chief for the 379th EMXS egress section.

Another part of the egress mission is to help other aircraft maintainers fulfill theirs.

“Just the other day, an aircraft maintenance unit called and said they needed the seat raised on one of the jets so they could get to a box behind the seat,” Sergeant Billings said. “We dispatched an egress crew to go out to where the jet was on the flightline and tilt the seat so the maintainer could do his job.”

And while the egress functions are the same across the board, working in a deployed environment has its differences.

“Our first priority is maintenance, but when you are working in a bare-base environment, you also have to build the facility from the ground up,” said Tech. Sgt. Richard Toro-Asins, 379th EMXS egress section chief. “When we first got here, we had very few tools, no toolboxes and inadequate workbenches.”

In less than two months since their arrival, the airmen have acquired the necessary equipment to make the 379th EMXS egress shop fully operational. In addition, they have written one operating instruction, two safety lesson plans and organized more than 20 Air Force programs, moving the section closer toward sustainment.

“We started with just a building, and now we have a shop that is comparable to most steady-state deployed bases,” Sergeant Billings said. “We had to get a bit creative, but other shops on base were also good about helping us out when we came to them for support.”

In war, even the most skilled fighter pilots may run into problems beyond their control. But, should that happen -- should they have to make that last resort decision to bail out --there is one thing they can count on: The minute they pull the ejection handle, they will feel the work of their egress section in action.

“When all else fails, egress prevails,” Sergeant Toro-Asins said.