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team at [email protected]Attrition
Repor t
report published on
February 6 by the US
Air Force’s 307th Bomb
Wing (BW) has revealed details
of a previously unknown incident
involving Air Force Reserve
Command B-52H Stratofortress
60-0051 ‘BD’, assigned to its 93rd
Bomb Squadron ‘Indian Outlaws’ at
Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana.
On December 19 last year, the
aircraft was on final approach to
Barksdale when the crew heard a
‘thud’ from outside the aircraft. All
systems remained normal and the
pilots had no trouble maintaining
control, landing without incident.
The crew subsequently
discovered the sound they heard
was actually a lightning strike
that tore a “person-sized” gash
through the tail of the bomber.
The B-52 is equipped with a
lightning arrester designed to
mitigate damage from strikes,
but this one seems to have been
too strong for the safeguards.
“We see a handful of strikes
every year, but out of all the
maintainers we have, no one
had seen lightning damage
that bad,” said Lt Col George PCole, III, the 307th Maintenance
Squadron commander.
After assessing the damage, it
was determined that the entire
tail would have to be replaced, a
large and uncommon repair. “I’ve
been with the unit for 15 years
and this is the first time we have
had to change a tail,” said Senior
Master Sgt Michael Nelson. “We
only had one maintainer on our
team that has ever changed one.”
Master Sgt Eric Allison was the
only member of the eight-person
repair team with experience of
such a job. “It’s challenging
because you have to position the
tail just right and it’s a 2,000lb
piece of metal,” he said.
And Tech Sgt David Emberton
commented: “It’s like lining up the
hinges when replacing a door.”
Acting as the crane operator
on the team, Emberton had to
rely on crew members spotting
the tail’s placement while others
physically moved it into place.
The USAF did not have to
manufacture a new tail because
one happened to be available
from a donor aircraft no longer
in service. “Having that tail onhand saved us a great deal of
time because ordering it from
AMARG [at Davis-Monthan
AFB, Arizona] would have taken
months,” Emberton said.
The replacement tail came from
B-52H 60-0049 ‘OT’, which had
been resident at Barksdale with
the 53rd Wing’s 49th Test and
Evaluation Squadron. It had been
damaged beyond repair by a
leaking oxygen fire in the forward
crew compartment while on theground at the base on January 28,
2014 – see Attrition, March 2015.
Since then it has remained in
open storage. “AMARG couldn’t
give us a cost because the part
wasn’t stock listed and had
never been ordered before,” said
Lt Col Cole. “That said, cost
saving is in the tens of thousands
just for shipping alone.”
In spite of the complexities
involved, the B-52 is now
back to flying status.B-52H repaired with new
tail after lightning strike
Above: The tail of B-52H 60-0051 showing the hole left by a lightning strike while
returning from a routine training mission on December 19. USAF/MSgt Ted DaigleAbove: The replacement tail fitted to 307th BW B-52H 60-0051 at Barksdale AFB on February 1 came from donor aircraft 60-0049, and still carries the ‘OT’ tail
code. USAF/MSgt Ted DaigleA
90 // APRIL 2018 #361 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com