Airman 1st Class Alvin Felder, a maintainer at Misawa Air Base, Japan, checks the tire on an F-16 prior to a sortie for the Seikan War exercise at Misawa recently. Misawa maintainers this week attended a commander's call with maintenance group commander Col. Cedric George to discuss lessons learned from the crash last July of a Misawa F-16 fighter in Iraq. Low air pressure in a front tire was one of the factors in the accident. (Jennifer H. Svan / S&S)
MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan — With the next major combat deployment looming, the 35th Maintenance Group here is taking steps to ensure the series of errors that led to the loss of a $22 million fighter jet last summer in Iraq isn’t repeated.
Maintainers at a commander’s call Monday were commended for their hard work during a busy run at Balad Air Base in 2007. But they also were reminded of the consequences of not following technical procedures, crucial in the precise field of aircraft maintenance.
“We must absolutely leverage every lesson learned from this mishap if we’re going to get better,” Col. Cedric George, the group’s commander, told hundreds of maintainers gathered in the enlisted club ballroom.
George met with his airmen less than three weeks before many will hit the road with the 14th Fighter Squadron, which is preparing to deploy to the Red Flag Alaska exercise along with various support squadrons from the 35th Fighter Wing.
The 13th Fighter Squadron also will deploy to Alaska later this spring to participate in the Northern Edge exercise, according to George.
The exercises mark the start of the training spin-up for another downrange deployment beginning this fall for Misawa crews, George said. The 14th and 13th fighter squadrons completed back-to-back deployments to Iraq last year. Their primary mission was close air support.
With more deployments on the calendar, George stressed the need “to train every day like we’re going to war.
“We are what we do every day,” he told maintainers. “Excellence is a habit.”
At the commander’s call, George discussed the investigation board’s findings into the July 15 crash and the punishment he dealt to three maintainers faulted in the board’s report.
The board concluded that low tire pressure and pilot misinterpretation were to blame for the crash of the Misawa-based F-16CJ upon takeoff from Balad Air Base.
But as George pointed out Monday, pilots from across the Air Force “concluded the reaction from this pilot was reasonable.
“The record shows he had seven seconds from the time he heard a ‘pop, bang’ to make a decision,” George said. “I want to move all of the focus off of that.”
The pilot safely ejected.
The board cited maintainers for failure to properly inspect the jet’s front tire after it was replaced that morning.
George noted that investigators didn’t recommend disciplinary action, a decision that’s left to the commander. After evaluating the findings, George concluded that only three of the five maintainers cited in the report violated technical data and had a direct role in the aircraft crash, he said.
George opted for administrative punishment for all three.
All received verbal and written reprimands, forfeited pay and were given extra duty and restricted to base.
A staff sergeant was faulted for lowering the aircraft before checking the tire pressure, a maintenance procedure violation. A senior maintainer, he had not checked out a tire pressure gauge and sent an airman first class assisting him to get one. He later said he lowered the aircraft in the meantime because he wanted to keep the jet mobile in the event of an attack.
George called that “a false sense of urgency,” noting it takes only about 30 seconds to lower a jet.
The staff sergeant — who previously had an unblemished record — lost a stripe, but he’ll be able to retest in another year, George said.
“He wanted to take full responsibility for this … for not following the tech data,” George said.
The airman first class who returned with the tire gauge said he noticed the procedure violation, but was hesitant to question the noncommissioned officer, he later testified. He also said he heard the tire hissing throughout his tire pressure check.
He, too, lost a stripe, but can get it back by completing “a lessons-learned” briefing during airmen’s calls, George said.
Another airman first class later failed to follow an order to recheck the tire pressure when he started his shift and doctored the records to note he did so after the plane crashed, according to the report and George.
He lost two stripes — reduced to airman basic — and forked over the most money, $1,346 of his pay.
“Was it preventable?” George said of the crash. “Yes. There were opportunities all along the line to break the chain, and it didn’t happen.”
The maintenance group commander encouraged maintainers to use their palm-size “knock it off” cards.
“If you see something dumb, dangerous or different, call ‘knock it off,’” George said. “It trumps all ranks.”
Master Sgt. Kevin Stees, 36, a noncommissioned officer in charge of aircraft structural maintenance with the 35th Maintenance Squadron, said the discussion served as a good lesson, especially for younger troops.
“Now these younger guys know what to expect: ‘If I do something wrong, I’m going to be held accountable,’” he said. “It’s the chain of the events. It’s never just one person responsible for an accident. Anybody in that chain can break that link.”
