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Search and Rescue in the Florida Everglades Search and Rescue (SAR) in the Florida Everglades provides a unique challenge due to the remote location and operations can often only be attempted by boat or aircraft. A suitable replacement for manned aircraft in these search and rescue operations could be a quad rotor unmanned aerial system (UAS). Manned aircraft, whether fixed wing or helicopters, are expensive to fly and maintain. A fleet of small quad rotor UAS equipped with a SAR specific…

One of my duties was to review and update the DHS air surveillance requirements. The document in question was from 2012 and was general in nature. To accomplish and to understand the complexities of the task, I needed to familiarize myself with how the original DHS air surveillance requirements were generated and were each line item originated. I discussed the origination of the current requirements with the Director of Air and Marine Operations (AMO) Domain Awareness (DA) and members from…

The Department of Transportation was established in October of 1966. The reason for its adoption was to ensure the safety of every American whilst traveling. DOT states on their federal website that their mission is to, “[s]erve the United States by ensuring a fast, safe, efficient, accessible and convenient transportation system that meets our vital national interests and enhances the quality of life of the American people, today and into the future”. However, many, if not all Americans, can…

There are number of risk involved in the aviation especially in the terms of operation and safety as internal safety of the aircraft is an inherent function of management. Modifications and improvement in safety is a continual process however there are much safety kept in the form clothing, noise control, temperature and electrical control. For the aircraft there are fabrics for fire safety and precaution like Nomex, Kevlar and PBI. For fire safety and protection at high temperature PBI is the…

The reason why Harrison Ford’s plane crashed has been determined, according to Radar Online, August 5, 2015. The National Transportation Safety Board found the carburetor’s main metering jet was loose. This allowed too much fuel to flow, which led to the loss of power. This vital piece is necessary for the plane to run as it mixes the proper amounts of gas and air of the engines operating speeds. They believe the part loosened over the years stemming from the time when the plane was rebuilt and…

This case is about what really happened in Air France 447 and what were causes of it. After analyzing the only data available, which were cryptic set of communications, experts found out that mostly the crash happened because of human factors. The weather conditions were bad and after AF447 passed into clouds associated with a large system of thunderstorms, its speed sensors became iced over, and the autopilot disengaged. In the ensuing confusion, the pilots lost control of the airplane because…

The Coast Guard’s Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron (HITRON) has a unique mission using specialized airborne use of force tactics for drug interdiction due to these mission complexities challenges arise. There is a shortage of experienced mechanics at HITRON due to the Precision Marksman Aviator (PM-A) Program. The Aviation Maintenance Technicians (AMT) and Aviation Electrical Technicians (AET) rates suffer at the unit due to the fact that the PM-A program does not limit the number of…

Exercise 4: Gesture and Gaze in Conversational Storytelling In order to make their narrative more plausible and detailed, many will use more than just a verbal account to illustrate their stories. Instead, they use gazes and gestures. In conversational storytelling, which is a collaborative event, gestures have meaningful functions that are tied to the description of the story. Simply defined, a gesture is the movement of the body that expresses a thought or feeling. In the video-recorded…

Have you ever heard the term “situational awareness”? I simply describe this as being able to see the big picture and understanding what is going on all around you. When I flew an F-14 Tomcat for the Navy, I had to understand both what was happening inside my airplane and outside of it. To lose focus on situation could mean loss of life. On the inside, I had to keep an eye on radar displays and gauges. I also had to listen to the radio and process information. I also needed to be aware of…

On August 23, 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal Aviation Act, which established the FAA as an agency (Federal Aviation Act of 1958, n.d.). The FAA is a component of the Department of Transportation (DOT) and they are charged with ensuring that all civil aeronautical practices are performed with a level of safety that directly correlates to Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) (Federal Aviation Regulations, 2010). Using the Title 14 CFR, the FAA has…