[ The Stars and Stripes ]

Baker Life Chute installed in tower

By SSgt. Jeff Pines
Public affairs division

The base's air traffic control tower stands eight stories high. If a fire or an earthquake trapped the controllers at the top, It would be a long drop to mother earth.

As of Monday. though. the controllers can slide to the ground through a nylon life chute. The chute was Installed Monday by its inventor Ralph Baker and his assistants.

"We thought It might look more like a stocking." said SSgt. Douglas Jacobson, about the long tube of knotted nylon.

Mr. Baker got the idea for his life chute, which has been installed at four other air bases, after the MGM Grand Hotel fire in 1980.

"After that fire. I realized we could send a man to the moon and bring him home safely, but that we couldn't get someone down from a 200-foot high building safely," Mr. Baker said.

The chute is portable and can be carried by two people. It costs about $25,000. The chute can be set up in a matter of minutes and a ride to safety is only minutes away. The chute can support 29 to 30 people at one time safely.

During World War II, if controllers had to evacuate their tower, they jumped into a 20-foot deep pile of sawdust explained Capt. Roy Bryan, chief, air traffic control operations.

Before the chute, the evacuation plan called for the Tucson Fire Department to race out to the tower with a ladder truck. An alternative to that plan was for the 71st Special Operations Squadron to fly a chopper over to the tower.

Air traffic controllers spent a good portion of Tuesday in training. The chute's biggest drawback is that people wearing battle dress uniforms tend to lose their buttons.