CRASHWORTHY - New seats offer better protection for loadmasters

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jarrod Grammel
  • 23rd Wing Public Affairs
MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (AFNS) --  In an effort to provide loadmasters with a safer and more structurally sound seat in cargo aircraft, engineers here recently installed a prototype of a new loadmaster crashworthy seat in an HC-130P Combat King.

"The goal is to provide loadmasters with a more secure seat," said Senior Master Sgt. Patrick Melady, Air Combat Command's HC-130 weapon systems team superintendent.
Civilian and military engineers installed the new seat in one of the Combat Kings here currently docked for routine maintenance.

"What they're doing now is a trial install," said Tim Martin, 23rd Maintenance Group Air Force Engineer Technical Services. "Once the design has been perfected and we determine whether it functions the way we want, we plan to install the seat in the rest of the HC-130P fleet."

Even though the C-130 Hercules has been in service since 1965, Air Force officials said the loadmaster crashworthy seat is long overdue.

"Loadmasters have been asking for it for years, and now we are finally able to give it to them," Melady said. "This will be a huge improvement for them and will increase the safety of their job."

The seat in service now is a sturdy foam pad attached to two metal bars that are connected near the hatch of the plane.

"The new crashworthy seat has a built-in harness support system and is structurally attached to the frame of the plane," Martin said. "This new design will offer a safer, more secure seat for loadmasters to scan for threats and observe aerial refueling."

When designing this seat, the loadmaster and crew weren't the only people in mind, Martin said.

"We also wanted to make the seat maintenance-friendly," he said. "When designing something like this, engineers usually just find out what is needed and how to install it in the aircraft. With this project, we wanted to design a seat that can be maintained efficiently."

Moody Air Force Base was selected to be the test base because of its C-130 fleet and its proximity to the contractors and engineers.