On July Fourth in 2014, Capt. Jim Miller was deployed to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, sheltered from the terrible heat in his air-conditioned room. He wore American flag pants and a T-shirt, watching the movie “Independence Day” with his roommate, Staff Sgt. Shane Shipman. Miller is a KC-135 Stratotanker pilot, and Shipman operates the boom used for in-flight aircraft refueling. They were on alert, ready to take off within minutes.
In the movie, Will Smith punched an alien invader in the face and exclaimed, “Welcome to Earth!”
The phone rang. The regular duty tanker was forced to abort on takeoff. Slowing down a speeding fuel-heavy aircraft resulted in what the Air Force calls “hot brakes.” Fire trucks rushed to prevent the brakes from burning out of control. Miller and Shipman scrambled into their flight gear and sped off in their SUV to the airfield, only to get stopped by security forces.
“We’re the alert crew!” Miller shouted. “We have to get our plane up right now, or fighter jets out there are going to be running out of fuel!”
The security sergeant shrugged. “Fire chief says no vehicles past this point.”
The fire chief was down the line, overseeing the hot brakes situation. Miller jumped out of the truck and ran a mile in his full flight suit to get the fire chief to clear the vehicle. That obstacle overcome, the crew finally reached their aircraft. An alert plane is kept locked to ensure takeoff settings are not adjusted, thereby speeding up preflight checks. With the metal plane cooking in the Middle East sun, the cockpit temperature had reached about 140 degrees Fahrenheit and 180 degrees in the back. The crew could not touch any part of the aircraft without gloves. A metal buckle on the seat belt burned Miller’s neck.
An alert flight involves all four engines starting rapidly, using an auxiliary power unit, or APU. Startup complete, the aircraft rolled for takeoff at 109 mph. That’s when they realized the co-pilot window wasn’t properly sealed. They could abort takeoff, but the mission was critical. The Islamic State had recently taken Mosul, Iraq. An American aircraft flying reconnaissance was desperate for fuel. Without it, they might have to land in Iraq, and nobody knew how the locals would receive them.
Aborting wasn’t an option.
But neither was ascending over 10,000 feet. If they couldn’t close the window, they couldn’t pressurize the cabin. Struggling to be heard over the roar of wind from the window, Miller radioed for a holding pattern. He and Shipman used all their strength to lock the window, finally.
The plane began pressurizing, and they climbed to 14,000 feet. Then the cabin altitude alarm came on. They weren’t pressurizing normally and had to return to a holding pattern.
They soon realized the open window had created a pressure problem that caused the APU exhaust vents to open. Shipman rushed to crank the vents closed manually, but he could only close one.
If they couldn’t seal that vent and pressurize, the aircraft couldn’t climb above 10,000 feet. At that altitude the air is denser, requiring more fuel for the flight. Flying that low, they’d never reach the refueling area with enough fuel for the return trip. Miller decided to improvise like Smith and Jeff Goldblum in “Independence Day.” The engines had leather covers to keep out blowing sand when parked. Miller rushed back with the cover as the APU compartment door slapped in the roaring wind. He placed the engine cover over the door, and it sucked on tight.
The aircraft could pressurize and go on with its mission. Thirty seconds into Iraq airspace, six F-18s lined up behind them, hungry for fuel.
Later that night, back at base, the day’s brutal heat eased a little, and a smiling Miller walked off the flight line, mission accomplished, smoking his “Independence Day” cigar.
Trent Reedy served as a combat engineer in the Iowa National Guard from 1999 to 2005, including a tour of duty in Afghanistan.
