FRIDAY, JUNE 9, 2017
Eye on the Fleet
atlantic ocean
VOL. 17 NO. 23
WWW.CNIC.NAVY.MIL/KEYWEST NAVAL AIR STATION KEY WEST, FLORIDA
ATC responds to emergency landing at NAS
SAR traverses storm to reach ill fisherman
By Trice Denny
By Jolene Scholl Southernmost Flyer
(June 4, 2017) CS1 Elijah Biron serves pot roast to Sailors in the aft mess decks aboard Nimitzclass aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72). The ship is underway conducting flight deck certification. U.S. Navy photo by MC3 Matt Herbst
inside: MEN’S HEALTH Follow these tips. . . . . . . . . . 2 #MIDWAY75 Turning the tide in WWII . . 3 MWR Upcoming events. . . . . . . . 4,5
NAS Key West Public Affairs Officer
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avy training and experience kicked in Sunday as Naval Air Station Key West air traffic controllers had just minutes to respond to a commercial aircraft making an emergency landing at Boca Chica Field. Silver Airways Flight 82, bound for Tampa, took off from Key West International Airport at 4:03 p.m. and encountered engine issues almost immediately. Radar Supervisor AC1 Moises Cespedesurena was tracking the plane as it turned toward Boca Chica Field, noting that it didn’t go above 500 feet before turning toward NAS. Approach Controller AC1
Dustin Wiser was watching as well. “I saw it on the scope and their transmission to me was ‘We have engine failure, we’re straight-in to Navy,’” Wiser recounted Tuesday. “I said ‘Roger’ and immediately keyed up to the tower.”
In the tower, Local Controller and Tower Supervisor AC1 Joshua Adams saw the Saab turbo prop approaching runway 08. He immediately made a call on the crash phone, notifying Boca Chica’s Fire and Emergency Services, Security, the command and
Wiser
Cespedes Urena
Adams
the airfield manager. “By the time I picked up the phone and made the call, the plane was less than a mile out,” Adams said. FES Chief C.J. Krieger said two aircraft crash/rescue crews, a fire truck and ambulance responded. “We were there in a millisecond,” Krieger said. The aircraft had stopped midfield, and though a passenger reported seeing smoke, sparks and flame coming from the port side engine, Krieger said firefighters didn’t see fire or smoke. In an unauthorized landing, Wiser said policy requires passengers and
aval Air Station Key West’s Search and Rescue team rescued a crewmember off a fishing vessel Wednesday. At 7:55 a.m., NAS Key West SAR, at the request of Coast Guard Sector Key West, dispatched 22 nautical miles to the northwest of Boca Chica Field to the 68-foot fishing vessel Miss Amy J to assess a crewmember who was reportedly coughing blood and unable to move his lower body. The MH-60S helicopter, crewed by Aircraft Commander Lt. Kyle Walker, Co-pilot Lt. James Walsh, Crew Chief Petty Officer 1st Class Jimmy Robinson, SAR Swimmer Petty Officer 2nd Class Jake Sonnier and SAR Medical Technician Petty Officer 3rd Class Aaron Kidd, and was forced to fly around incoming thunderstorms. It reached the vessel at the same time as a dispatched Coast Guard vessel. At the scene it was
see landing page 6
see SAR page 3
U.S. Navy photos by Jolene Scholl
AC2 Sarah Jacobs, left, and AC1 Sherry Killough in the NAS Key West air traffic control tower Wednesday. The red ‘crash phone,’ next to Jacobs, links the tower to emergency services, security, the command and the airfield manager.
TOP OF PAGE ONE: A C2-A Greyhound assigned to the ‘Rawhides’ of Fleet Logistics Support Squadron (VRC) 840 approaches the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69).