Aviation Life Support Systems (ALSS

U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Ryan G. Greene.

ALSS Areas of Concern

Aviation Life Support Systems (ALSS) are maintained in a multifaceted effort through proactivity and accountability, ensuring appropriate training at all levels of leadership involved. Across the fleet, there are three significant areas of concern that have been noted during assessments: 1) ALSS not screened ‘Safe-for-Flight’ correctly before releasing crew and aircraft resulting in down gear used for missions; 2) Aircrew not performing their required pre-flight and post-flight inspections correctly or at all to ensure their gear is ready for the mission and to correct discrepancies on their equipment between inspection cycles; 3) Squadrons do not have the proper manning required, (which contributes to not maintaining the ALSS program in a safe and

by PRCS(AW) Randi M. Zetterlund

efficient manner), inhibiting the ability to ensure maximum equipment available for the mission.

Safety of flight issues for ALSS

When screening aircrew Safe-for-Flight (SFF), the individual screening the aircraft discrepancy book (ADB) will receive the Bureau Numbers (BUNOs) for the equipment used by the crew from a parachute rigger (PR); sometimes they take the Sailor’s word for the material being ready-for-issue (RFI), or occasionally they check Optimized Organizational Maintenance Activity (OOMA). What I have never witnessed is SFF personnel checking the extra ALSS equipment. Does this flight require a night vision device?