Warrior Weekly

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Christopher Hatch
  • 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  The ability to stop an aircraft in trouble when landing is paramount to the safety of Luke's pilots and Airmen.  The 56th Civil Engineer Squadron power production shop maintains the aircraft arrest system or barrier. 

The barrier is a thick cable with rubber donut-looking pieces to hold the cable off the ground. The cable is attached to a six-inch strap or tape that feeds into a large spool underground and releases a braking system as the tape is pulled out by the aircraft as it lands. The harder the aircraft pulls, the more resistance the barrier gives to stop it.  Maintenance to the system is a daily task starting at the crack of dawn before the F-16s start rolling. 

The barrier system is similar to the one used on aircraft carriers. If the brakes, hydraulics or landing gear fail, the barrier will stop the aircraft. As an aircraft in trouble lands the aircraft catches a wire with it's arrestor hook that quickly slows it down. 

The power production shop is in charge of making sure the system works and must check the barrier system daily. The power pro team turns the barriers on to check the hydraulics, oil, ensure the tape is intact and checks the wire and donuts for damage. The wire is replaced every three years and the tape replaced every four to ensure it will be able to handle the stress of stopping a jet. 

"We check the system every day," said Senior Airmen Wilmer Zuniga, 56th CES power production journeyman.  "We turn on the barrier spools and make sure everything works." 

The barrier is used more frequently than some may think. 

"We are the world's largest fighter wing," said Staff Sgt. Jeremey McLeod, 56th CES power production journeyman. "We had to use the barrier about 30 times last year. We use ours the most in the Air Education and Training Command. "
 
In deployed locations the system has been adapted to be in the back of two trailers that can be parked at the end of any run way. To secure them they drive six foot stakes in the ground. 

The power production shop also maintains the many generators on base and supplies the mobile generators.