Safe skies, grounds job one for Base Flight Safety office

  • Published
  • By Will Huntington
  • 88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio --  "We are here to provide a safe environment for air crew to operate in and out of the airfield." Mark Hohn, 88th Air Base Wing Flight Safety, said. "We are here to prevent aircraft mishaps from occurring."

Hohn's brief summary of his duties belies the myriad steps his office takes to help provide that safe environment for the wide range of aircraft, both assigned and transient, which touch down at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

Flight Safety's approach to the job is in line with the adage, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" and inspections are important tools employed in the job. That ounce of prevention has Hohn out each day scrutinizing every foot of runway, taxiway and aircraft parking ramp on Wright-Patt for debris, pavement surface conditions, airfield lighting and much, much more. He also keeps a watchful eye out for signs of wildlife incursions into the base's aerodrome. Aircraft encounters with animals or birds can produce catastrophic, and even deadly, results.

"We are there to look for things which are possible risks and hazards," Hohn said, "We can then eliminate those to create that safe environment and prevent those mishaps."

Like arrows in a quiver, Flight Safety has multiple programs to meet the spectrum of risks associated with each hazard.

Through the Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard program, or B.A.S.H., Flight Safety personnel partner with air operations and natural resources officials through wildlife and habitat management to reduce the risk of bird and wildlife strikes. It's a program that daily takes him out checking for water fowl and other animals setting up housekeeping along or in the several lakes, waterways and wetlands that surround the flightline.

"Birds and airplanes, deer and airplanes, coyotes and airplanes don't mix," Hohn said, "We are trying to keep them out of there."

According to a Department of Defense Partners in Flight Program report, it's a dollars-and-cents effort too. Strikes involving military aircraft, DoD-wide, cause in excess of $75 million in damage every year. Most importantly, it helps save lives.

Airfield construction projects also occupy Flight Safety's attention.

"Whether it's putting down new pavement or putting in new lighting on the airfield or any type of project which goes on out there, we are part of the review process from project start to the project's final inspection." Hohn said.

One recent project that Flight Safety spent a lot of time on was the demolition of Cold War-era alert hangars next to the runway which were violating current criteria regarding airfield obstructions. A project just over the horizon is the replacement of the main, more than 50 year-old, runway.

"They will take it down to the dirt and rebuild the entire runway," Hohn said of the pending project. "It will take a year to do it."

In preparation for that work, and to ensure the airfield continues to operate later, Hohn said the shorter runway will receive a mill and overlay work up, which removes and replaces the top four inches of asphalt.

"There is always something new," he said of his job. "There's a new project going on ... or we have those special events, like when you see aircraft fly over the Wright Memorial; well we in Safety are involved in that.

Long before such an event, Flight Safety reviews what the planners want and takes a hard look at critical items including local hazards, the right altitude for the aircraft, the potential for other aircraft in the airspace, and many, many more things which could contribute to a mishap.

While Dayton isn't a location known for hurricanes, Wright-Patterson AFB does have to be ready to support aircraft leaving a hurricane danger zone and seeking refuge along the base's flight line. The Flight Safety office has a host of considerations and actions to meet with such an event. As evidence of how complicated that can become, one hurricane brought in dozens upon dozens of F-15s from Seymour-Johnson AFB.

"It's an important thing and it can really be a big thing," Hohn said of Flight Safety's mission. "Again, the whole job is to create an environment that is safe for aircrew and aircraft to operate in."