Photo By Tech. Sgt. Janiqua Robinson | A helicopter jack stand sits under an HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter, July 7, 2016, at...... read more read more
Subscribe
When maintenance is performed on an aircraft, these inspectors are there every step of the way. They’re meticulous, and are sometimes accused of looking for non-existent problems, but their attention to detail can save lives and fosters a safe work environment.
The 32 quality assurance inspectors assigned to the 23d Maintenance Group here, make sure 2,500 maintainers correctly perform maintenance and follow procedures step by step to help ensure a safe flight.
“We are the eyes and ears of the 23d MXG commander,” said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Issac Price, 23d MXG quality assurance chief inspector. “We advise and provide him recommendations on the quality of maintenance within his group. If we don’t do our job correctly, people could get injured or aircraft could get damaged because [the kind of inspections] we do puts pilots and maintainers lives in our hands.”
Quality assurance inspectors check everything, dividing the workload among themselves. They keep track of what type of maintenance each aircraft needs and when it must be completed by.
In each unit they make sure everything is done correctly, from the proper disposal of rags to the configuration and installation of weapon systems on aircraft. Throughout these processes, inspectors report the status of the unit or squadron to the MXG commander.
“We are the last set of eyes before that pilot takes off,” said Price, who was an aircraft propulsion maintainer for 13 years. “There’s a lot of responsibility that goes along with that. The biggest thing is safety and making sure the proper practices are in place and being utilized correctly.”
No stranger to maintenance, these inspectors start off as maintenance professionals and preform the more detailed inspections according maintenance back ground and career field. Once maintenance is done and the aircraft is deemed ready for flight, QA inspectors go over the technical data logs to certify it’s correct and maintenance is up to date.
To help maintenance professionals become better mechanics, quality assurance inspectors also teach Airmen the correct way to do a failed task or procedure, and the proper way to maintain their equipment.
“Our job is to observe, report and train, but people think we’re just there to observe and report,” said Price. “If we notice something is being done wrong across the group, we’ll do a non-rated inspection and use that opportunity to train [maintainers] to make sure everyone knows how to do the right procedures.”
In addition to correcting errors inspectors also have to check the programs the maintainers use to make sure they’re up-to-date. This can also help get dangerous or incorrect procedures removed from the maintainers technical data.
“If someone finds a better way to do something, they can bring it to their supervision and then to us,” said Price. “If they see something in the technical data that they think is dangerous, they can get in touch with their product improvement manager and we can change that process.”
Although these inspectors closely interact with maintainers daily, they aren’t the most popular people among them because failed inspections must be reported to the MXG commander.
“Quality Assurance has always been perceived as the bad guy,” said Price. “When we go out and do inspections, [maintainers] are often rated on a pass or fail scale, so if they aren’t doing it by the book, it looks like we’re the bad guys because we’re failing them. Really, we’re identifying and fixing the discrepancy.”
Tech. Sgt. Kevin John, 23d MXG quality assurance inspector, added that it’s important for everyone to know and understand their role so they can help each other become better.
“When I was an Airman I saw quality assurance as the boogeyman, I thought they were out here to get us in trouble,” said John. “[Now that I’m an inspector, I know that] people absolutely dread us coming out. Sometimes people will make jokes and say ‘QA’s here, everybody run!’ It’s all in good fun and I understand where they’re coming from because they want to make sure everyone is on their ‘A’ game.”
Even with the occasional light-hearted jokes aimed at quality assurance inspectors, John enjoys his job and the challenges it brings while certifying Moody’s aircraft is fit for flight.
“Every day I learn something new,” said John. “That’s probably my favorite part, because it’s constantly evolving and changing and there’s so much room for growth.”
| Date Taken: | 07.14.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 12.05.2016 16:03 |
| Story ID: | 216482 |
| Location: | VALDOSTA, GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: | 52 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Eyes and ears of maintenance, by TSgt Janiqua Robinson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
