AERO Specialties

There are good reasons to be especially cautious airside when handling diesel exhaust fluid (DEF). Over the last 20 months, at least three incidents involving DEF fuel contamination have occurred. Two of which included Cessna Citation 550 twinjets carrying out air ambulance flights. Though all aircraft landed safely and there were no injuries, the occurrences speak to the importance of taking steps to mitigate or remove the risk of DEF contamination in fuel. The cause of these near-tragedies was the introduction of DEF into the fuel supply. The threat of DEF contamination of a fuel supply is a harrowing one, but, whether it’s by cautious loading of an aircraft tug or an update to ground crew training, with some basic precautions even near-tragedies can be averted. What is DEF? DEF is a non-hazardous fluid that, to meet federal environmental regulations, is added to the exhaust systems of diesel vehicles to break polluting emissions into water and nitrogen. While i...

In most places, winter is going to bring disruptions and difficulties of one kind or another to an airport. In warmer climates, that can mean the increased risk of cloudbursts, electrical storms, and obscuring fog. For the colder regions, however, winter delivers an entire suite of challenges that can make everyone’s work all the more difficult. This is especially true with airside ground crews. They are dealing with all of the visibility and mobility issues of flight crews and air traffic control, on top of which they are moving baggage, piloting service carts, and driving aircraft tugs out in the elements all day. This makes planning, preparing, and stocking up for the winter particularly critical for smooth service airside. Winterizing Your GSE and Preparing Your Ground Crew Winterizing the airside ground support equipment (GSE) and ground crew requires more than outfitting the aircraft tug and baggage tractor with snow tires. It requires preparing the GSE and ...