THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 22, 1996 TAG: 9608220403
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHARLENE CASON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HAMPTON LENGTH: 64 lines
An Air Force ``safety day'' ordered for Friday is not the same as what the Navy calls a ``stand-down,'' an Air Force spokesman said Wednesday.
Rather than a stand-down day, Friday will be a ``step-back day,'' said Gen. Richard Hawley, commander of the Air Combat Command headquartered at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton.
Air Combat Command units will suspend regular operations and try to identify safety risks, then find ways to reduce those risks, he said.
The general's comments came as he ordered his 32-base command to take a timeout in the wake of the fourth Air Force crash in a month.
The Navy has no official definition of a ``stand-down'' - a term it has used to describe servicewide timeouts to examine safety and other issues - but such days have generally involved measures similar to Friday's planned safety day.
Commands will look at every part of operations, including the way missions are planned, briefed and flown, Hawley said.
His order exempts flights already scheduled for deployment and long-term missions - such as enforcement of the no-fly zone over Iraq - plus flight demonstrations and a limited number of other activities. The command, in other words, is not stopping all its flying.
``We can't. We have too many heavy commitments to missions,'' said Maj. Joe LaMarca.
``It just means we won't do routine training and other normal operations. It also means we'll look at all aspects of safety, including on the ground and in offices. Safety is more than flying.''
Eight crew members and a Secret Service agent were killed in a C-130 crash last weekend in Wyoming.
That accident followed the destruction of an Air Force U-2 spy plane in Oroville, Calif., on Aug. 7; an F-16 fighter's crash near Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, on Aug. 3; and another F-16 wreck at New Mexico's Kirtland Air Force Base on July 31. A fifth Air Force plane - a South Carolina-based F-16 - crashed in Pensacola, Fla., July 11.
The Air Combat Command oversees operations of nearly 1,000 aircraft at installations in the United States, Panama, Portugal and Iceland, where more than 100,000 airmen and civilians are stationed.
``Gen. Hawley's job is not just to prepare airmen, as a combat provider, but to also take care of people so they can successfully complete their missions,'' LaMarca said.
Taking care of people means two routinely scheduled safety days throughout the command every year. Friday's safety day is an added day, LaMarca said.
``Any crash is too many,'' he explained, ``but when it involves loss of life, it has much more impact.''
Investigation of last weekend's incident is ongoing, he said. Despite the fact that the Air Force has had one C-130 crash per year involving loss of life or damages of more than $1 million since 1986, ``we still have the utmost confidence in the C-130 and its mission.
``It is a reliable and dependable aircraft.''
The Air Force flies C-130H cargo planes for tactical missions. The stubby, four-engine plane, also used by the Navy and Coast Guard and a common sight over Hampton Roads, has been produced by Lockheed since 1956 - meaning that it has been in production longer than any other aircraft in the American military inventory.
The company is building a C-130J model for the Air Force.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT PLANE U.S. AIRFORCE U.S. NAVY
MILITARY PLANE SAFETY DAY by CNB