Photo By Bruce Huffman | Airmen of the 127th Wing lift a simulated disabled jet at Selfridge Air National Guard...... read more read more
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A major accident response exercise conducted at Selfridge Air National Guard Base on April 3, 2025, brought a variety of members together for a realistic training opportunity. Personnel in the air traffic control tower, Selfridge Fire Department and those assigned to a crashed, damaged or disabled aircraft recovery team, worked with members of Marine Wing Support Squadron - 471, Naval Reserve Center - Detroit, and the Selfridge Military Air Museum to simulate a realistic accident training scenario.
A MARE prepares Air Force personnel for a variety of emergency scenarios including aircraft accidents, mass casualty events and other large-scale disasters. During the April 3 simulation, an A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft notionally lost its ability to lower landing gear, forcing it to make a controlled belly landing directly onto the runway near the museum.
First responders practiced dispatching emergency vehicles to the runway as soon as they learned a pilot reported a mid-air emergency. As firefighters prepared for the landing, dispatchers discussed aircraft fuel, munitions, and pilot status with ATC tower staff. When the simulated plane crash-landed, firefighters surrounded it with water-pumping trucks and quickly extracted the pilot.
“When you get called out to an emergency, everyone is at their best and all eyes are focused on the crash site and on doing what needs to be accomplished,” said Justin Gulliver, assistant fire chief with the 127th Civil Engineer Squadron.
Once the aircraft was secured and the pilot safe, the focus shifted to aircraft recovery. According to Dennis Stricklen, assistant director of the Selfridge Military Air Museum, the plan was to have the Marines from MWSS-471 and the 127th Wing’s CDDAR team lift the museum’s display F-104D Starfighter aircraft so Navy Seabees could repair the sinking concrete pads underneath.
Unfortunately, the night before, several inches of rain fell onto the lift site, flooding the area. Realizing weather conditions during a major accident are uncontrollable, the CDDAR team sloshed around as they attached the spreader bar to the belly of the aircraft and closely watched a 50-ton crane lift the aircraft off the ground. Within a few short moments, one of the crane’s front outriggers sank approximately 18 inches into the mud, toppling the opposite side into the air.
U.S. Marines Corps Sgt. Julio Carbahal, a crane operator with MWSS-471, expertly lowered the aircraft back to the ground without incident, and the mission was paused for safety reasons. Luckily, the only harm done was enormous ruts left in the grass. The CDDAR team learned a valuable lesson about aircraft recovery techniques in extreme weather conditions.
A few days later, the CDDAR team returned to the museum and utilized an air bag system to elevate the plane and place it back on its base pads.
“Although we ran into a few problems, I would consider the MARE an overall success,” said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Christopher D. Johnson, a CDDAR team lead. “The team members gained valuable experience using both a crane and the airbag system to recover aircraft in extreme weather conditions.”
| Date Taken: | 04.04.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 05.21.2025 12:06 |
| Story ID: | 497463 |
| Location: | SELFRIDGE AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, MICHIGAN, US |
| Web Views: | 15 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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Selfridge Air National Guard Base
