Photo By Cpl. Justin Humphreys | Chief Warrant Officer 2 Clifton Wallace and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Tristan Brown,...... read more read more
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JACKSON, Miss.—Crew chiefs are the masterminds behind the mechanics and equipment of an aircraft.
At Hawkins Field in Jackson, Miss., crew chiefs with Company F, 1st Battalion, 171st Aviation Regiment, were preparing a Blackhawk helicopter to fly for a night training mission May 14, 2016.
Scrutinizing each piece of equipment and double-checking each other, the Soldiers had no doubts they could fly the Blackhawk without any problem.
“First thing we do is check our log books to make sure we have something we can fly with,” said Sgt. 1st Class, James Bentivegna, from Fairview, Miss.
Most of the crew chief’s work goes on behind the scenes. They ensure the safety of a flight before the helicopter lifts off and must follow procedures to make sure everything works the way it’s supposed to.
“As a crew chief, we get the aircraft set up ahead of time,” Bentivegna said. “We go ahead and pre-flight the aircraft, we prepare it for the mission.”
Crew chiefs have an important job that requires a lot of time and training. For flying at night, their job becomes much more crucial because more equipment is required to fly safely.
“Our job is very critical, especially with night vision goggles. Everything we do during the day is harder at night because natural vision and depth perception is degraded,” Bentivegna said.
Before hopping aboard, Sgt. 1st Class Bentivegna did his last check of the aircraft and informed the pilot that the helicopter was ready for take off.
| Date Taken: | 05.14.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 05.16.2016 14:02 |
| Story ID: | 198217 |
| Location: | JACKSON, MS, US |
| Hometown: | FAIRVIEW, MS, US |
| Web Views: | 43 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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