PHASE dock crew achieves zero discrepancies during quarter

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Shannon Collins
  • 52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany (USAFENS) --  Focusing on excellence, the F-16 inspection section here performed 39 mandatory aircraft inspections and time changes during the past quarter and achieved a 100 percent pass on all mandatory quality assurance evaluations.

The section, consisting of 19 Airmen, is responsible for the completion of performing aircraft phases every 400 flying hours on about 46 assigned aircraft.

“The phase dock crew did a bang up job,” said Lt. Col. Sean Cunneen, 52nd Maintenance Group Quality Assurance chief, lauding the team’s effort. “My inspectors gave them a thorough look and a 100 percent pass rate on 39 phases is the best I’ve ever seen.”

The likelihood for any type of aircraft phase dock throughout the Air Force to achieve a 100 percent pass in a quarter is pretty low, said Senior Master Sgt. Marlin Menschel, the 52nd Equipment Maintenance Squadron maintenance flight chief, who oversees the F-16 and A-10 phase docks.

“(Last quarter’s statistics) are very impressive,” said Sergeant Menschel, who has worked aircraft phase off and on since 1986. “And they currently have yet to fail an inspection part-way into the second quarter.

“Phase is the heart and soul of maintenance,” he continued. “They tear the aircraft apart, -- are key to keeping the longevity of our aircraft fleet through preventative maintenance -- repair and replace components and put everything back together. They are the key link in the ability of the 52nd Fighter Wing being able to meet their annual flying hour program.”

During each F-16 inspection, the team removes nearly all access covers and panels and inspects all components, wiring and hydraulic and fuel tubing for serviceability and abnormal wear, said Master Sgt. Marty Dermody, 52nd EMS F-16 phase dock chief.

During a phase, the team removes about 131 aircraft panels, documents about 150 pages of aircraft forms, clears about 160 jobs in the core automated maintenance system and performs nearly 96 work cards.

The phase section is primarily responsible for all major hourly inspections to include: 1,600-hour landing gear inspections and replacements; 3,000-hour emergency power unit replacements; 1,200-hour accessory drive gear inspections and several other inspections.

The team also replaces a lot of items that manufacturers recommend replacing at regular intervals. These parts, called “time-change items,” usually fail after a certain number of hours in the aircraft.

Attention to detail and team effort were the causes of the success, said Senior Airman Jeremy Hanson, 52nd EMS phase inspection team member.

“To achieve a paramount quality of maintenance requires attention to detail and selfless acts of dedication,” he said. “The pass rate is the culmination of numerous technicians working in unison to reach a common goal and that is to provide safe, reliable aircraft to our pilots.”