Hooked

  • Published
  • By Airman First Class Shane Karp
  • 177th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
U.S. Air Force airmen from the 177th Fighter Wing's Civil Engineering Squadron performed testing on their aircraft arrest system here.

The system is used to rapidly decelerate an aircraft in the event of an emergency brake failure or on short runways which may not offer the distance required for a traditional landing.

"If an aircraft is coming in and cannot stop in time, it's important that the cables are able to bring them to an abrupt stop," said Senior Master Sgt. Brian Alexander, the base fire chief.

The importance of the aircraft arrest system extends well beyond the 177th FW and is used everywhere from Navy aircraft carriers to deployed environments overseas, said Alexander.

The arresting cables must be operational for every flight that takes place on base and is certified by the Civil Engineering Squadron once per year.