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How do you know when an employee loves their job? Is it that
extra pep in their step? Do they whistle while they work?
These are questions no one at the Salina Airport Authority
has to ask of Aircraft Rescue Firefighter Lead Dave Nease. However, if
the question were up for debate, all he'd have to do is roll up his
sleeve a reveal the full color Airport Authority ARFF logo tattooed on
his left arm.
"I like the logo, it's an input from everybody on the
ARFF team," said Nease. "I wanted the Maltese cross, someone
else wanted the fire, Tim (Rogers, A.A.E., executive director) wanted to
keep the Airport Authority logo part of it and Gunner (Wiles, manager of
operations) wanted the "9/11" and the "343" for the
343 firefighters killed on 9/11. Everyone put down some ideas and this is
what they came up with."
Before the Airport Authority put out the new logo, Nease's
pride was obvious on his right arm, where a firefighting Tasmanian devil
stands poised for the next challenge.
"I got Taz for my 55th birthday," explained Nease. "The
logo I got almost a year ago."
More than body art has changed during the past 24 years. When Nease began
his Airport Authority career, the maintenance and ARFF crew was one in
the same. Eventually, Nease took over ARFF training. Then, the crews were
split into two distinct groups and Nease was named ARFF lead. The ARFF
crew has been getting better and better since, he said.
"Not just because of me," he elaborated. "We've come a
long way just in the last three years even. Gunner has been a good asset
for us. We've got guys who are interested in ARFF, instead of ARFF and
maintenance. We've got some younger guys that are dedicated to it."
Nease has seen a handful of aircraft incidents while on both crews. He
can recall with uncanny clarity many of the more serious aircraft mishaps
he's responded to.
"The most memorable moment I've had is hearing a K-State helicopter
pilot saying, 'May Day. May Day. May Day.' and then nothing," he
recounted the decade old episode. "He went down in a field just
north of the old tower and just south of the farmhouse."
Three maintenance and ARFF crewmen responded with two trucks. Nease
remembers it as being one of the worst things he'd ever worked to that
point because the crew knew the pilot. He remembers walking through the
field looking for the pilot.
"One of the better feelings you'll ever get is when you see the
guy's hand come up and hear him say, 'I'm right here.' And there he
was," he recalled. "Alive but with five vertebrae's in his
lower back crushed."
They had recently given a class at K-State informing pilots that, should
something ever happen and there was no fire or danger of fire, not to
move. The pilot did just that and made a full recovery.
The serious incidents at the airport have been few and far between,
leaving Nease plenty of time to spend with his wife of 33 years, Janet
and grandson, Aiden.
The latest crash Nease was involved in included a three-year-old and a
bowl of brownie batter. When Nease responded he found that no one had
been injured and the toddler had even managed to save the spatula from
the floor.
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TOWER UPDATES
· We are happy to see
all the taxiways open now. The new surfaces and markings look great.
· Pilots, remember
that the new procedures are in effect where Marshall GCA is controlling
the IFR traffic at Manhattan, Junction City, and Fort Riley. They also
offer VFR traffic advisories on 121.25.
· The local pilots and
controllers have observed large flocks of birds in the vicinity of the
airport in the last week. If you see birds keep the tower advised.
· The SLN controllers
have just completed their annual review of in-flight icing and runway
braking action procedures. Unfortunately, it will be that time of year
again very soon.
Thank You,
Bruce M. Boyle
Manager, KSLN FCT
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