Aboard the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), there are many workshops that support the ship and its mission. One lesser-known shop, the non-destructive inspection (NDI) lab, has a vital role in executing everyday operations.
The NDI lab provides support to Air department and the squadrons of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 9 aboard the John C. Stennis.
NDI is a unique way to assess equipment without performing invasive or harmful inspections. These inspections help identify faults and damage within critical equipment.
“Our primary job is to perform non-destructive inspections,” said Aviation Structural Mechanic 1st Class Michael Evangelista, from Manilla, Philippines, a branch leading petty officer aboard the John C. Stennis. “We mainly inspect aviation equipment, aviation support equipment, and other related items as part of our inspections.”
The NDI lab inspects a range of aviation components that are deemed critical, and then they determine if the components have damage or defects.
“Each part has its own cycle, a bit like a maintenance cycle,” said Aviation Structural Mechanic 2nd Class Rebecca Fields, from McKinney, Texas, an NDI lab technician aboard the John C. Stennis. “The component has to go through an inspection period to make sure it is still within operational standards.”
The NDI lab performs five different inspections, each used to carefully find defects within mechanisms, and prevent further damage to the part.
“We perform magnetic particle inspection, liquid penetrant, ultra-sonic, edicurrent, and a radiography inspection,” said Fields. “The equipment we use has no effect on the part’s serviceability or its performance. That is why it is non-destructive.”
All of this has to be done before a component can be put back into service.
“This is done so that those parts that might cause mishaps are repaired,” said Evangelista. “We find the faults before any real destruction is caused to either the part or the aircraft.”
By finding the flaws within machinery, NDI helps the air department and squadrons gauge how to repair an item, as well as estimate how much it will cost.
“Because NDI can identify items that need to be fixed, using a high degree of accuracy, we are able identify where any deficiency is,” said Fields. “Our inspections save time repairing components, and money that might be wasted looking for the damage by other means, possibly harmful means.”
The NDI lab directly supports the mission of the John C. Stennis by giving direct support to the aviation support equipment technicians, who support the aircraft used in air operations.
The John C. Stennis is deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
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