Photo By Master Sgt. Brian Davidson | Firefighters from the 447th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron respond to an...... read more read more
By Master Sgt. Brian Davidson
447th Air Expeditionary Group
BAGHDAD - Land mobile radios set to the command and emergency response channels squawked an unusual message from the Base Command Post Wednesday morning when the announcement went out that an F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft was less than 10 minutes out from landing at Baghdad International Airport with an in-flight emergency.
The message was unusual because the airfield, shared by the Iraqi civilian airport and Sather Air Base, is wholly dedicated to supporting heavy airlift and rotary wing aircraft, not small, supersonic fighter jets like the F-16 that was on final approach.
Chief Master Sgt. Pablo Valverde, 447th Air Expeditionary Group superintendent, also heard the call and immediately knew he should respond as well. While the chief is normally responsible for taking care of the needs of enlisted members deployed to Sather, he knew he was uniquely qualified to help in this emergency.
Base firefighters, airfield operations specialists and other rescue and emergency response personnel immediately scrambled to get in place along the runway as the F-16 pilot touched down with his wingman flying along side. The landing went smoothly, but rescue workers had no way of knowing how serious the situation was or what had caused the pilot to make the emergency call to land.
As the aircraft taxied to a safe parking area on the north side of the airfield, Chief Valverde was on his way to meet-up with the emergency response force.
The chief is deployed from his position as the command chief with the 944th Fighter Wing, Luke Air Force Base, Ariz. With more than 30 years in the Air Force, he was the best qualified to respond to the F-16 emergency because he has spent most of his career as an aircraft weapons specialist. His aircraft experience includes the F-4E Phantom fighter, the B-52 Stratofortress heavy bomber, and the F-16 Fighting Falcon. His experience spans both active duty time and service as an Air Reserve technician.
When the aircraft had safely landed and shut down, some firefighters established a cordon while others moved in to help the pilot and ensure the aircraft was not in any immediate danger.
Once the on-scene commander gave the "all clear," Chief Valverde used his knowledge of the Falcon's weapons systems to make sure the bombs, missiles and 20mm M61-A1 Gatling gun were all properly disarmed and safe.
"When I inspected the weapons, I was pleased that one of the firefighters also had previous F-16 experience, and had properly installed all the safety pins, and that the rest of the fire team did everything by the numbers to ensure that the pilot and aircraft were safe," the chief said. "I helped with procedures to safe the 20mm gun system, and then made a full inspection of the aircraft weapons with assistance from Tech. Sgt. Scott Kaufman, a North Dakota Air National Guard firefighter from the 119th Air Wing in Fargo. His training on emergency procedures on the F-16 and my weapons experience allowed us to properly safe the aircraft and munitions."
The F-16 and pilot are deployed to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing at Balad Air Base, approximately 40 miles north of the Baghdad airport, and was on a routine patrol to support ground operations in the area. A separate incident that same morning in which an F-16 at Balad had caught fire just before taking off led to the closure of the runway there. The aircraft that landed at Sather had been in the air for approximately nine hours when an engine malfunction warning prompted the pilot to declare an in-flight emergency and land on the nearest suitable runway.
"Baghdad International Airport is not generally suitable for fighter operations due to the deteriorating pavement conditions, and there is considerable pavement cracking and structural problems both on the runway and the taxiways," explained Capt. Mark Oden, 447 Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron director of operations, who is deployed from the 86th Operations Support Squadron at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. "Fighter aircraft are only allowed to use this airfield during emergency situations and once an aircraft has landed, it must taxi off the runway and shut down immediately. Any further movement makes it very likely that these aircraft would ingest foreign object debris, such as gravel, into the engine and possibly cause catastrophic failure," he said.
Capt. Oden explained that when the Falcon arrived in the BIAP airspace, Iraqi and Air Force air traffic controllers, under the supervision of Staff Sgt. Erin Baugh, an air traffic controller deployed from the 88th Operations Support Squadron at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, took control of the situation and ensured the fighter was cleared to land. Upon landing at 9:05 a.m., the tower controllers provided the pilot with detailed procedures for the engine shut-down location and advised him of the potential dangers on the airfield.
After the fire dept released the aircraft, the 447th EOSS Transient Alert team took over. They were responsible for towing the aircraft to a safe location off of the main taxiway, which posed a whole new challenge. "Our Transient Alert team is very experienced at working with even the largest of transport aircraft, but not with fighters," Capt. Oden explained. "They had to use the equipment on-hand and improvise a way to safely get the job done without damaging the aircraft. That's where ingenuity, and some help from Chief Valverde, was needed."
The team was able to make some modifications to an aircraft tow bar in order to match it to the nose landing gear of the fighter. After reversing a pair of brackets on the tow bar, the aircraft was moved from the civilian to the military side of the airfield.
A few hours after the aircraft arrived at Sather AB, a Maintenance Recovery Team from Balad AB arrived on station. With continued help from the EOSS team, they were able to diagnose and repair the problem. An engine test run was successfully conducted, and before dawn Thursday the F-16 was on its way back to Balad.
'It took help from our fire department, airfield team and even the civil engineers who carefully cleaned the runway to get the fighter airborne again," Capt. Oden said. "It took approximately 17 hours from when the pilot declared the emergency until the F-16 was on its way home. That's a testament to the teamwork of our active duty, Guard and Reserve Airmen."
Chief Valverde returned to his group superintendent responsibilities, but when asked about what it was like to get his hands dirty working on an aircraft again, he simply smiles and says; "I loved it."
| Date Taken: | 11.19.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 11.19.2008 13:30 |
| Story ID: | 26538 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 224 |
| Downloads: | 164 |
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