Korissa’s Blog: Airfield Inspections

One of the coolest opportunities I get as an intern, is that sometimes I get to cover 24 hour shifts for the full-time employees if they are gone. Covering a 24 hour shift gives me a ton of experience and the responsibilities just as a full-time GFK Operations/ARFF Specialist. Our department is open 24/7 with two people on shift at a time so that we can have one person awake at the airport at all hours of the day. My favorite part of covering a 24 hour shift, is the nighttime airfield inspection. I love the airfield at night, with all the lights and signs lighting up the sky. Airfields have so many different lights; white and red runway edge lights, blue taxiway edge lights, yellow flashing lights at runway/taxiway intersections, lights in the yellow location and direction signs, and lights in the red runway identifier signs. Plus all the lights on each building and the terminal, the airfield is definitely on my list of favorite sights. Just like the day inspections, on nighttime airfield inspections, we are looking for debris, pavement heaving, anything else that could impact air traffic, plus burnt out lights and signs. Work at night is just a little more calm and quiet, but yet we are working to make sure the next day is ready for a full day of aircraft adventures.