Service vest soon: flight equipment technicians

Photo By Sgt. Rebecca Eller | Sgt. Jaime Chavez, a flight equipment technician with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 363, checks the torque on an oxygen regulator aboard Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., Nov. 28. Flight equipment technicians with VMM-363 maintain and repair safety equipment such as survival vests, communication systems, GPS, oxygen masks and all gear crew chiefs and pilots need and ensure the gear is serviceable for flight or emergencies.  

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, CA, UNITED STATES

11.28.2012

Story by Lance Cpl. Rebecca Eller 

Marine Corps Air Station Miramar

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. - “In case the aircraft goes down in sea, you pull the rip cord on your safety vest, and boom, you’re floating so you don’t have to swim or tread water,” said Sgt. Jaime Chavez, a flight equipment technician with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 363.

Flight equipment Marines with VMM-363 maintain and repair safety equipment such as survival vests, communication systems, GPS, oxygen masks and all other gear crew chiefs and pilots need and ensure the gear is serviceable for flight or emergency situations.

“There is no room for error,” said Chavez. “If that aircraft goes down you depend on what we provide for you to survive.”

Sometimes pilots just grab their gear and go when they are in a hurry, and depend on flight equipment technicians to say the gear is reliable, explained Chavez.

“I have so much trust in them that I often just take the gear on their word that it’s good,” Capt. Bert Tompkins, quality assurance officer with VMM-363. “I get dressed and go fly without a second thought.”

Flight equipment technicians perform thorough inspections throughout the year on all the aircrews’ gear.

“We make sure the equipment works and is serviceable,” said Chavez. “A lot of inspections are visible inspections. You’re making sure there are no cracks, rips, tears and batteries are charged.”

Though the dangers are mainly for the aircrew if gear is not functioning properly, flight equipment technicians also encounter dangers.

“Some of the flares in the vest are explosive, and we work with pure oxygen which is flammable,” said Chavez. “Potentially, if you’re not paying attention, and you’re not reading the publications right when you try to fill up a bottle with oxygen, it could blow up.”

Flight equipment technicians are jacks of all trades. They occasionally perform maintenance on the aircraft, along with maintenance on squadron’s personnel gear. A big part of a flight equipment technician’s job is sewing, explained Chavez.

“We’re known as the seamstress of the air wing because we sew those cool name patches onto the flight suits,” said Chavez.

The flight equipment job is forever changing, new gear comes out and the technicians must adapt and overcome, and figure out how to maintain that new gear.

• Date Taken: 11.28.2012
• Date Posted: 11.29.2012 18:32
• Story ID: 98525
• Location: MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, CA, US