Arc Flash Studies - Nationwide

As part of an ongoing program, Leidos Innovations Corporation (Leidos) is supporting the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) under the National Airspace System (NAS) Integration Support Contract (NISC-III). Leidos serves as Program Manager to provide Power Study and Short Circuit Analysis reports (arc flash) for many of the FAA’s critical operating facilities across the United States and its territories. Leidos, operating as an extension of the FAA’s technical staff, coordinates and schedules the required arc flash audit with each of the site managers for the FAA. Pond, serving as a subconsultant partner of Leidos, coordinates with the Leidos project manager to schedule, arrange and conduct each of the audits at all the assigned site locations alongside the FAA site managers.

The FAA has many critical facilities managing the National Airspace (including Enroute Traffic Control Centers, Radar Approach Control Centers, Airport Traffic Control Towers, Radar Systems and navigational equipment such as omnidirectional radios and beacons, and precision approach and landing guidance systems). These facilities track and communicate with aircraft, provide navigation for aircraft while in flight, and transit weather updates and other crucial information.

The critical nature of these FAA facilities require power to be available at all times. The loss of power would greatly impact or even halt air traffic and radar tracking for that facility’s air space. Given that, even scheduled electrical maintenance tasks must be performed on “live” facility electrical systems. To ensure the safety of their employees, the FAA counts on the team to successfully and safely execute the required arc flash studies of their facilities. The Leidos-Pond team uses the study to identify the proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and safe work tolerances for FAA employees to conduct maintenance on live electrical gear, allowing the FAA to focus on their mission critical task of maintaining the NAS. This team has successfully executed arc flash studies at more than 70 sites across the United States and territories.

Currently there are over 800 sites identified by the FAA which require arc flash analysis. The team has developed efficiencies and is on track to deliver the studies for the 800 sites on schedule. The Leidos team has been able to cut the deliverable time down considerably through on-going team collaboration, resulting in a complete report being generated in no more than a six-month period. The Leidos lead engineer expressed “the Pond engineers went above and beyond to ensure the AFRA studies were careful, methodical and successful.”