Nor'easter forces reservists to put training to the test

  • Published
  • By Capt. Shannon Mann
  • 916ARW/PAO
SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, NC --  As the deadly Nor'easter that hit the U.S. eastern seaboard on Monday pushes through the area it leaves more than just commercial airports and airplanes in its wake, it also had an affect on the military. 

While on a mission far from home, an aircrew from Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M. was forced to call an in-flight emergency when they lost instrumentation on Tuesday morning. 

"We got the call shortly after 7am," said Master Sgt. James Loper, 916th Air Refueling Wing Command Post. "In less than an hour maintenance generated a plane, operations generated a crew and command post coordinated the efforts to help this crew in trouble." 

As an early-riser, Lt. Col. Todd Chaney, chief of staneval, was one of the first pilots in the office that morning and received the call to get ready to fly. 

"They basically lost the instruments that tell them their airspeed and altitude," said Colonel Chaney. "We were able to rendezvous with them above our airspace, fly on their wing and help them land." 

Lt. Col. Chaney went on to explain that this was the first time he'd ever helped a plane visually land, although he has been on the other end of the scenario. 

"It's pretty unusual to lose everything," he said. "They did have a hand-held GPS and ground radar was able to give them some information, so they weren't totally blind. But it is still disconcerting when something like this happens." 

Superior training and superior coordination were paramount in landing this multi-million dollar aircraft safely at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. 

Lt. Col. Chaney said the maintainers were certainly not expecting something like this to happen, but that their awesome dedication to the mission provided a plane within 15 minutes. 

"It was the professionalism and can-do attitude of the 916th Maintenance Group personnel that said anytime, anywhere, we're ready to go that was part of the success of this mission," said Major Pete Wojihowski, commander of the aircraft maintenance squadron. 

"Our jet and ops crew walked them into a perfect landing," he added. 

And while a safety report will reveal more it is speculated that the storms of the Nor'easter put water into the system causing it to freeze, but it was blue skies for their landing at Seymour Johnson. 

Lt. Col. Joseph Powers, the troubled aircraft's commander, said the crew followed their training, came up with a plan of execution and selected Seymour as the closest place to land. He said that those involved in their safe recovery were outstanding.
"They were a valuable asset to our safe landing," he said. 

All this occurred before 9am, leaving smiles on the faces of those involved, but also keenly aware that this was just one mission in a day's work for the Air Force Reserve.