(This story was written by Capt. Dino Atsalis from the 393rd BS in 1986 and is reproduced with his permission.)

'Fully 17, Foxtrot, it appears you have smoke or fuel vapor trailing your aircraft. Make this one a full stop.' These were the words of Maj. Allan Pickering, the supervisor of flying, to the aircrew of FULLY 17, a Pease FB-111A. As a result of Major Pickering's quick decisive action, a serious situation did not become catastrophic.

The supervisor of flying, or "Foxtrot" as he is known to bomber and tanker aircrews, is the deputy commander for operation's representative on the flightline. His duties include ensuring aircraft take-off on time, making sure aircraft are correctly configured for take-off, coordinating between the aircrews and the wing command post, and monitoring aircraft in the Pease flying area during approaches or touch-and-goes.

Take-off discontinued.

On the afternoon of Jan.31, Major Pickering monitored an FB-111A simulated single engine approach flown by two 509th BW's Standardization and Evaluation instructor pilots; Lt.Col. Jerry Gosner and Capt. Bruce Kennedy. During their landing and prior to rotating for take-off, Major Pickering saw smoke or fuel vapor trailing from the left side of the aircraft. He communicated what he saw to the crew and told them to discontinue the take-off. Captain Kennedy and Colonel Gossner quickly reduced the throttles to idle and stopped the aircraft on the runway. While the aircrew slowed the aircraft, Major Pickering told the wing command post the situation and called for crash crews to respond to the north end of the airfield. The Major arrived at the north of the airfield prior to the fire department's crash crews, as the distressed aircraft turned off the runway. He now confirmed what he saw earlier. The FB-111A had a massive fuel leak with fuel pouring out of the back of the aircraft. Major Pickering told the crews to shutdown engines immediately! The aircrew turned the aircraft into the wind before shutting the engines down to keep fuel from blowing on hot wheel brakes. Colonel Gossner and Captain Kennedy wasted no time evacuating the aircraft.

Pool of fuel.

'Once I was out of the aircraft, I looked behind the aircraft to see how bad the leak was. I saw a pool of fuel trailing the aircraft from the runway to where the aircraft was stopped,' remarked Colonel Gossner as he recounted the events of the Friday afternoon. Captain Kennedy commented, 'Major Pickering's quick decision to abort the touch-and-go on the runway averted a potentially hazardous aircraft emergency.' Lt.Col.jack Pledger, 393rd BS's commander, had high praise for Major Pickering's decision. 'Had the aircraft made it airborne with fuel leaking like it was, the aircrew would have had a very serious emergency to deal with,' he said. 'Al's decision was the right one. Everyone involved with the flying operations here at Pease is happy he made it. Al is one of my best squadron pilots, and his experience showed in handling this aircraft emergency.'

Investigation by aircraft maintenance specialist found the fuel leak to be the result of a faulty fuel system component. Fortunately, this was an isolated incident and not one FB-111A aircrews see often. What did Major Pickering think about his actions two weeks ago ? The Belfast, Maine, native said,' I was doing my job making sure flight operations are completed safely. What I did would have been by another individual given the same circumstances. I'm glad I was able to stop an emergency situation before it became more serious.'