US Air Force/Airman 1st Class Jacob B. Wrightsman
Airman 1st Class Jabari Coner, 2nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron crew chief, performs a postflight inspection on a B-52H Stratofortress at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, March 19, 2020.
- Air Force crew chiefs at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana are tasked with keeping B-52 bombers ready to fly.
- "When an aircraft lands, we are in charge of doing all the inspections wing-tip to wing-tip, nose to tail, inside and out," said Senior Airman Colin Harding, 2nd AMXS crew chief.
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It's not pixie dust that turns 185,000 lbs. of machinery into a lethal, combat-ready B-52H Stratofortress prepared to fly at a moment's notice. No, it's a crew chief.
With the task of keeping B-52s in tip-top shape, it's the responsibility of Barksdale's crew chiefs to coordinate all necessary maintenance in order to keep the aircraft in war fighting form.
"We're the first ones to touch the aircraft when it lands, and we're the last to touch it when it takes off," said Airman 1st Class Jabari Coner, 2nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron crew chief. "We're the ones telling the aircrew the jet's good to fly. Their lives are in our hands."
Throughout the course of a mission, a B-52 can encounter malfunctions, sustain damage, or endure simple everyday wear-and-tear. It's up to the crew chiefs to identify what issues are present and how they need to be fixed.
"When an aircraft lands, we are in charge of doing all the inspections wing-tip to wing-tip, nose to tail, inside and out," said Senior Airman Colin Harding, 2nd AMXS crew chief. "Then we handle all of the servicing forms, documentation and overall upkeep of the jet."