JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- Hundreds of aircraft take off to perform vital missions from the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson flight line every year, and each one of those air frames requires safety inspections and certifications to ensure the mission is conducted safely and effectively.
The Airmen with the 477th and 3rd Maintenance Squadron’s Non Destructive Inspection lab perform professional testing and structural inspections that help keep the aircraft on base flying. The NDI goal is simple, to certify aircraft are safe for all JBER missions. By inspecting aircraft parts and structures and performing specialized inspections, NDI Airmen help ensure reliable aircraft performance and keep the mission going.
Aircraft preservation is a process that verifies the aircraft are safe for aircrews while saving military assets. Inspections of all levels from NDI are carried out every day in the aircraft world. According to Master Sergeants Sarah Jornacion and Megan Silva, NDI superintendents, the NDI lab plays a vital role here. “We are capable of providing reliable assessments of the state of all airframes to include transit aircraft and support equipment.” said Jornacion.
Aircraft parts require regular observation at many levels, from crew chief maintainer inspections to NDI special inspections, sometimes including level 3 engineers. Crew chiefs are the front line of defense and can visually observe and identify problem areas on the aircraft, while regularly-scheduled NDI inspections identify hard-to-see damages. NDI performs non-invasive metal integrity inspections, which means they use the latest technology such as digital x-rays and ultrasonics, to determine whether or not the airframe is structurally sound. Inspections reveal whether parts are to be replaced or repaired, which at times requires level three engineers and specialty shops such as metals technicians for further direction.
“Level three engineers take findings from NDI inspections, whether a cracked or good finding, and determine inspection cycle repairs,” said 3rd Maintenance Squadron supervisor Technical Sgt. Michael Wood. “The engineers also modify inspection criteria and engineering dispositions when required.” Engineers determine the specifications from aircraft manufacturer documentation and metal specifications charts.
“NDI is vital because there are parts that crack, or break,” said Staff Sgt. Dominick Dimartino, 477 MXS NDI technician. “Some issues are predictable, others are not predictable, from internal components of engines, flight control surfaces to structural support. NDI inspects all material without causing any damage to aircraft finding faults not visible to the human eye; that is vital to keeping the aircraft in the air.
Air Force Airman Jacob King from the 3rd Maintenance Squadron Non Destructive Inspection Flight, performs special inspections on aircraft parts Sept. 13, 2016 at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.
USAF Photo by Staff. Sgt. Michael Campbell.