September 26, 2018 | International, Aerospace
US Air Force turns to data analytics to solve B-1, C-5 maintenance challenges
By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force is making changes to the way it sustains the B-1B Lancer bomber and C-5 Super Galaxy cargo plane, moving to a maintenance approach that will allow it to use data analytics to predict problems, the acting head of Air Force Materiel Command said. Both the B-1 and C-5 fleets transitioned to a conditions-based maintenance model last month, Lt. Gen. Robert McMurry, commander of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, told Defense News in a Sept. 18 interview. “Given the aging fleet situation that we have, we probably need to be using data better to take care of it — which is a drive toward what most everyone right now is saying is the right way to manage fleet sustainment, which is through condition-based maintenance and data analytics,” he said. “So we're trying to bring that on.” The approach — which involves using algorithms to predict the need for repairs rather than waiting for a part to break — is a standard practice in the commercial airline industry to help reduce maintenance-related delays or cancellations, but has been less common in the Air Force. AFMC determined it needed to make a greater push toward conditions-based maintenance as a result of servicewide reviews triggered by rising concerns about the number of aviation-related mishaps. The first review, directed by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Dave Goldfein, involved a one-day standdown that would give flying and maintenance units a chance to communicate potential safety concerns up the chain of command. Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski, then the head of AFMC, also directed the organizations under her command, like the Air Force Sustaiment Center, to evaluate its own data. The reviews have since concluded, with the Air Force finding “two systems ... where high risk was accepted,” said McMurry, noting that “operational security does not allow us to identify them.” “Our process is dealing with those responsibly,” he added. The B-1 and C-5 were chosen as pilot programs for the conditions-based maintenance approach because they are sustained by airmen and have older, relatively small inventories, making for a more manageable data set. But the planes have something else in common — a recent history of well-publicized mishaps. The C-5 has sustained a number of nose landing gear malfunctions that led to a standdown and maintenance assessment in 2017. But despite a fix being put in place, there have still been problems with the gear, such as a March 2018 event where one C-5 landed on its nose at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas. Meanwhile, the B-1 fleet was temporarily grounded in June after a safety investigation board found problems with ejection seat components while investigating a May 1 emergency landingwhere the ejection seats did not deploy. Full article: https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/air-force-association/2018/09/25/air-force-looks-to-data-analytics-to-help-solve-b-1-c-5-maintenance-challenges/