Ground crew

In all forms of aviation, ground crew (also known as ground operations in civilian aviation) are personnel that service aircraft while on the ground, during routine turn-around; as opposed to aircrew, who operate all aspects of an aircraft whilst in flight. The term ground crew is used by both civilian commercial airlines and in military aviation.

Dependent on the type of aircraft being operated, airline ground crew members typically include: airframe technicians, engine technicians, avionics technicians.

Military aircraft equipped with either weapons and / or an ejector seat will also require a dedicated weapons technician ground crew member.

Ground crew required for non-powered flight, such as gliders will include people who manually handle the glider aircraft from their storage location, such as an aircraft hangar, to their respective launch site, and then to return them at the end of flying. Aero-towed launched gliders will require ground crew commensurate with supporting the tow aircraft, which are typically single piston-engined general aviation (GA) small lightweight utility variants, often Cessna.

For winch-launched gliders, ground crew will also include the winch-launch operator(s), and also a pay-out vehicle operator whose purpose is to draw or pay-out the winch launch cables (usually two cables per launch vehicle) which will be located at the far end of the upwind side of the airfield, to the gliders awaiting their turn to launch at the opposite end of the airfield.

Hot-air balloons require particularly unique ground crew. Their roles include preparing the passenger basket (or gondola) with the correct amount of pressurized gas for the burners, testing of the burners, calculating the total mass of the balloon pilot and all passengers, calculating and applying appropriate ballast weight (fixed internal and releasable external). Then the assembly of the passenger basket to its lift balloon envelope, laying out the balloon envelope fabric in a manner that facilitates efficient inflation.

Prior to launch, it will require personnel to 'waft' the balloon envelope during horizontal burner operation, to ensure an efficient fill. When the balloon envelope is itself airborne, but still not able to lift the basket with its pilot and any passengers, the ground crew will be required to hold ground tug ropes, to maintain the correct position of the balloon over the now vertically firing burner, and to prevent the basket from being uncontrollably dragged along the ground, until the balloon is totally full and capable of launch.

Once in flight, the hot air balloon ground crew drive one or more 'chase vehicles', initially to follow the progress and trajectory of the balloon in flight as best it can. Most hot air balloons have zero aviation-specific navigation aids, though modern pilots will typically utilize satellite navigation features found on many smartphones, along with the mobile voice telephony to maintain contact with the chase vehicle. The final task of the chase vehicle will be to locate and attend the balloon landing site, to repatriate any passengers back to their respective location, and to thoroughly deflate the balloon envelope, then correctly fold and stow away the envelope, along with the basket, and deliver all balloon equipment and its pilot back to their preferred location.