Yokota aircraft flies with no discrepancies

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class
  • 374th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
YOKOTA AIRBASE, Japan --  A C-130 Hercules assigned to the 36th Airlift Squadron received not one, but two black letter initials prior to take off, July 20 and 21, thanks to the Airmen of the 374th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (AMXS) and the aircraft depot yard in Singapore.

A black letter initial in an aircraft's active maintenance records indicates that no known discrepancies exist, and there are no inspections due or overdue, according to Senior Master Sgt. Michael Stephens, 374th AMXS sortie generation flight chief.

"This is a rare event for us in the maintenance career field," said Tech. Sgt. Alex Shipper, 374th AMXS dedicated crew chief. "I have been in almost 12 years and have only seen a black letter initial happen twice before, and to have it happen twice in the same week is amazing."

Most aircraft have minor discrepancies prior to take off that causes them to not receive a black letter initial. Some of the problems are as simple as an upcoming inspection or a replacement part hasn't come in to repair a minor discrepancy. These issues won't prevent the aircraft from completing a mission, but they must be documented in the aircraft forms to inform maintainers and air crews of existing conditions that require attention. Depending on the nature of the discrepancy, a variety of red symbols are used to indicate the aircraft's current condition.

The C-130 that received the black letter initial recently underwent a 54-month maintenance inspection in Singapore.

"The depot yard in Singapore did a great job on this aircraft," said Senior Master Sgt. Dave Novelli, 374th AMXS lead pro super. Yokota Airmen can't work on certain parts of the aircraft because they don't have the equipment available at a depot.

"The depot team has capabilities to rectify major structural issues we don't normally work in the field. In certain instances, the wings are removed for repairs in areas we don't have access to in the field," Sergeant Novelli said.

Once an aircraft returns from the depot facility, the 374th AMXS resumes their day-to-day maintenance tasks on multiple systems to keep the aircraft fit to fly. These systems include propulsion, hydraulics, avionics, electrical/environmental, fuel systems, structural, flight controls and landing gear, in addition to servicing and ground handling tasks.

"We do the majority of the maintenance right here on the flight line to make sure every mission gets met," Sergeant Shipper said. "If a mission leaves early, we arrive early to inspect the aircraft and make sure we are a go for that upcoming mission and if we have a late mission, we stay late."

"This feat is not seen often in aircraft maintenance nowadays, especially in the C-130 world," Sergeant Novelli said. "I'd have to say it's the ultimate milestone for a dedicated crew chief to have his/her aircraft fly even one sortie without any type of discrepancy annotated in the forms. It's a direct reflection of the hard work by all of our maintainers."