Air Drop - Behind the Scenes part II

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Jonathan Hehnly
  • 911th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
PITTSBURGH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AIR RESERVE STATION --  Fuel? Check.

Liquid Oxygen Reading? Check.

Brakes, Tires? Check and Check.

"Inspect. Service. Maintain. That's what we do," said Master Sgt. Bill Richie, a crew chief with the 911th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, as he explains the process of conducting a pre-flight aircraft inspection.

Up to 72 hours before each mission, crew chiefs must conduct pre-flight checks on the main components of the C-130 Hercules to ensure the plane is fit to fly.

"Our job is to check safety critical items," said Richie. "We keep the flight safe. It's all about safety."

Once the plane is deemed safe and mission capable it is ready for the air transportation specialists and loadmasters to upload the cargo in preparation for its mission.

It is the mission of the 911th Airlift Wing to provide airlift of airborne forces, their equipment and supplies and delivery of these forces and materials by airdrop, landing or cargo extraction systems.

The 911th AW accomplishes an average of 800 airdrops per year through the teamwork of maintainers, air transportation specialists, and operations personnel. 911th AW members train with several different types of air drop delivery systems at both high and low altitudes.

If the mission requires a high altitude drop through the use of the Joint Precision Airdrop System, a request is sent to the 911th Maintenance Squadron's Avionics Flight to install the necessary equipment into the aircraft scheduled to fly.

The 911th AW has three JPADS equipment kits that are moveable between the eight C-130 aircraft. The transferable Joint Precision Airdrop System kits allow C-130 air crew members to use GPS, an onboard computer and steerable parachutes to guide cargo to a designated point on a drop zone.

"If a plane breaks or is determined unsafe during the pre-flight, we play 'musical planes' and pull the kit and move it to another aircraft," said Senior Master Sgt. John Szydel, communications and navigations supervisor with the 911th Maintenance Squadron.

It is the responsibility of the 911th Maintenance Group to keep the aircraft functional and flying, so in times of last-minute safety issues there is almost always another mission capable plane on deck and ready to fly at a moment's notice.

Maintainers stay on top of safety issues by performing regular inspections and maintenance to the aircraft. Planes fly based on scheduled or unscheduled maintenance, but it is the 911th AW's turn-around time that has gained the unit recognition in recent years.  The unit still holds a 10-day record fly-to-fly time for an isochronal inspection.  It is also the benchmark unit for C-130 home station inspections in AFRC.

When a C-130 becomes non-mission capable, the crew chiefs make a decision using their technical orders that tell them what needs fixed and who needs to complete the order. The crew chiefs will then pass over the orders to one of the 16 shops under the 911th MXG, which will make the specific repairs and return the aircraft to flying status.

"It takes a group effort to keep these planes rolling and mission ready," said Richie. "We are responsible for the overall safety of the flight, the drop, and the plane."

This is part two of a three part series on Air Drops.